In the early 1940s, Charles and Ray Eames spent several years developing and perfecting a technique for molding laminated wood into three-dimensional shapes. During this process, they created several pieces of furniture and sculptures. Of these early designs, the two-piece elephant was the most technically complex object, due to its many tight curves. It never reached the production stage. One of the prototypes was given to Charles’s daughter, Lucia Eames, who was 14 at the time. Later, it was loaned to the Museum of Modern Art in New York for the 1946 exhibition. It remains in the Eames family’s possession.