'Toys and games are the preludes to serious ideas': inside the Eames' toy collection

Toys and Play at The Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity.

'Toys and Play' is the latest instalment of The Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity's exhibition programme, featuring the toys and games that have inspired Ray and Charles Eames in their work. 

Toys were a big part of the pair's oeuvre, from plywood elephant to their series of games, including the recently-reissued Little Toy, but also explorations on themes of
dressing up, masks on trees, toy houses and educational initiatives. 'Toys are really not as innocent as they look. Toys and games are the preludes to serious ideas,' Charles Eames wrote in 1961.

'Toys and Play' at The Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity

(Image credit: Courtesy Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity)

The 901 Washington Boulevard office was filled with toys, which they used to play as well as as case studies for developing their design ideas. Toys were archived in special boxes, or used around the space to create moments of pause and pleasure. 'By incorporating the items into their everyday practice, the Eameses honoured that spirit with which the objects were created,' writes Sam Grawe in a text accompanying the exhibition. 'Leaving a mechanism unwound or a ball unbounced negates the purpose of the toy itself, and belies a full understanding of its properties or abilities. In this sense the Eameses were truly fans. When Charles called the Superball a “great and elegant” design, he meant it!'

The virtual exhibition includes a great collection of spinning tops from different eras and countries, paper kites in the form of animals, puppets, ancient board games, toy boats and wheeled carts, plus a series of classics such as Enzo Mari's '16 Animali' puzzle and 1964 Superballs. 

Started in 1966, but not completed until 1969, the film Tops offers a visual celebration of the ubiquitous spinning toys. Here Charles and staff member Alex Funke capture one of the film’s 123 featured tops in motion. © Eames Office, LLC (Image credit: Courtesy The Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity)

'In one of his 1953 Berkeley lectures Charles prototyped the notion of toys and games leading to serious ideas', continues Grawe, who also authored a book on the topic out on 11 December 2023. 'He states that “not having lived long enough, children are naturally uninhibited and see everything as new and interesting; they are observing and associating all the time, and there are great truths in things done unconsciously by children.” But some 20 years later, in Perry Miller Adato’s film An Eames Celebration, he gives the game away. “Toys are not really for children,” he reveals. “Toys are really for adults—especially grandparents.”'

'Toys and Play' can be browsed via the Eames Institute website

The exhibition catalogue 'Artifacts from the Eames Collection: Toys & Play' is out on 11 December 2023

(Image credit: Courtesy The Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity)