Case Study Fiberglass Shell Chair (1999)
by Modernica
Fiberglass Shell, Chrome-plated steel
45.72 x 63.5 x 45.72 cm (Chair), 43.18 x 48.26 x 43.18 cm (Eiffel stand)
It is fabricated in the same way that thousands have been made since 1950, using the same machines specially built for its assembly. But this fiberglass chair manufactured by furniture company Modernica is not an “authentic” Eames Shell Chair — at least, in the eyes of its rival Herman Miller, which first mass-produced this design for the late American designers Charles and Ray Eames. Herman Miller claims its “Authentic Eames Moulded Plastic Chair” is the original even though it is manufactured today in an entirely different process — which is more environmentally sound — than when the designers were alive over a decade ago. Unlike art where originality and authenticity can be traced to a single work, designs are mass manufactured products that allow different manufacturers to lay claim to selling “original” and “authentic” products. While Modernica claims authenticity through how its chairs are manufactured, Herman Miller depends on the endorsement of the Eames Office, a foundation set up by the designers’ children, and ownership of the trademark “Eames” that allows only the company to identify its product as such. As Charles Eames himself once said, “The details are not details; they make the product.” In this case, the products are originality and authenticity.
