Leg splint
During World War II, the U.S. Navy called upon Charles and Ray Eames to create a lightweight, inexpensive leg splint. The resulting highly sculptural yet functional, modular device could be mass-produced and conveniently transported. Access to military technology and manufacturing facilities allowed the Eameses to perfect the plywood-molding technique they had been working on for several years. The splint’s biomorphic form suggests the couple’s subsequent influential plywood furniture designs.
Artwork Details
- Title: Leg splint
- Artist: Charles Eames (American, St. Louis, Missouri 1907–1978 St. Louis, Missouri)
- Artist: Ray Eames (American, Sacramento, California 1912–1988 Los Angeles, California)
- Date: 1942
- Medium: Molded plywood
- Dimensions: 4 1/16 × 41 3/4 × 7 7/8 in., 1.4 lb. (10.3 × 106 × 20 cm, 0.6 kg)
- Classification: Miscellaneous-Wood
- Credit Line: Gift of Fifty/50, 1984
- Object Number: 1984.246
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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