Terms and conditions of use
Leg splint
(1943)
- Medium
- Mahogany (Swietenia sp.), moulded plywood
- Measurements
- (107.0 × 20.0 × 10.0 cm)
- Place/s of Execution
- Grand Haven, Michigan, United States
- Accession Number
- 2021.14
- Department
- International Decorative Arts
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, NGV Supporters of Decorative Arts, 2021 - Gallery location
- Not on display
- About this work
-
Charles and Ray Eames were seminal architect-designers of the postwar era. Working in creative partnership, they were responsible for major contributions to the fields of architecture, furniture and industrial design. During the Second World War they were commissioned by the US Navy to design a lightweight, inexpensive leg splint for wounded service personnel, having already experimented with moulded plywood technology in their studio. The splint’s lightweight, stackable form made it easy to transport in the field. With the Eameses’ access to military technology and facilities, the leg splint became their first industrial design to be mass-produced, and by 1945 over 150,000 had been made.