NY Good Questions: Is This A Genuine Eero Saarinen Chair?

5.1chair.jpg Dear AT,

I found this awesome mid century Burke task chair in great condition!

The chair is white fiberglass with a metal base and wood accent and has casters.

It doesn't have an original cushion, but I could use just a throw pillow.

I haven’t found this type of chair on ebay that is on casters, only pedestals.

How can I tell if this is a genuine Eero Saarinen chair?...

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5.1chair1.jpg

Were they on pedestals only or on casters too?

Anyone know where I can find a cushion for it?

Thanks! J

Comments (13)

uhh quality, price, resale value, respecting original creator, etc. etc.

Well, price is a non-issue relative to "creator" since the chair has already been purchased.

Did he/she buy it to resell it, or because they just liked the chair?

hey, this is from the tucson craigslist! i've been halfheartedly eyeing it too ;-)

Ha ha, I've been checking out this same chair in the Tucson CL too!

Not a Saarinen design. There's the base to begin with, but even if someone over the years switched it out (it happens), the curve of the back and arms (at least in the photo above) looks too square.

I found this though:
The standard equipment chair seen on the sets of the Enterprise were manufactured by a company in Texas called "Burke". They were closely patterned after a similar chair by Saarinen except that they featured a four-blade"propellor" base instead of the circular "Tulip" base favored by the other company. Two models were seen on the show, the "115" or "armless" version and the "116" which was basically the same shape except for the sides which had been extended upwards to create arms. Neither versions of the chair is still being manufactured but they can be found for sale from used furniture dealers. As of 2004 they typically sell for $120 to $180 depending on condition.

Ah, I guess I assumed the chair had already been purchased by the person posting the question. Sorry.

Burke chairs are fun in their own right, but they are pretty much a knock off of the original Saarinen design, which I'm pretty sure was originally manufactured by Knoll and still is.
I remember many homes in my 70s childhood that had modern kitchenettes with Burke dining sets. Lots of fun twirling around in those chairs. It seems that a lot of those sets got passed on to friends as they went to college; again, lots of fun twirling around in those chairs.

haha, thanks for all your help, even though i have no idea who "J" is.. but oh well, little AT error :) I did some research and could not find any chairs that had this type of base so thank you arza. Shout out to my local Tucsonans!! Don't know if it's still available, but saw it posted earlier this week :) --"H" not "J" :)

we should have a tucson AT meetup!

Absolutely NOT a Saarinen design. The most distinguishing characteristic of the Saarinen Tulip chair (which, by the way, has been produced by Knoll since 1957 -- never by Burke) is the tulip-shaped pedestal base, designed to eliminate legs completely -- the corresponding table is also legless and has a tulip-shaped base. It was never produced with casters.