1940s Straight Chair by George Nakashima
View Similar Items
1940s Straight Chair by George Nakashima
About the Item
- Creator:Knoll (Maker),George Nakashima (Designer)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 29 in (73.66 cm)Width: 20.75 in (52.71 cm)Depth: 20 in (50.8 cm)Seat Height: 17.25 in (43.82 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1949
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Buffalo, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1062436115542
George Nakashima
A master woodworker and M.I.T.-trained architect, George Nakashima was the leading light of the American Studio furniture movement. Along with Wharton Esherick, Sam Maloof and Wendell Castle, Nakashima was an artisan who disdained industrial methods and materials in favor of a personal, craft-based approach to the design. What sets Nakashima apart is the poetic style of his work, his reverence for wood and the belief that his furniture could evince — as he put it in the title of his 1981 memoir — The Soul of a Tree.
Born in Spokane, Washington, to Japanese immigrants, Nakashima traveled widely after college, working and studying in Paris, Japan and India, and at every stop he absorbed both modernist and traditional design influences. The turning point in Nakashima’s career development came in the United States in 1942, when he was placed in an internment camp for Asian-Americans in Idaho. There, Nakashima met a master woodcarver who tutored him in Japanese crafting techniques. A former employer won Nakashima’s release and brought him to bucolic New Hope, Pennsylvania, where Nakashima set up a studio and worked for the rest of his life.
Nakashima’s singular aesthetic is best captured in his custom-made tables and benches — pieces that show off the grain, burls and whorls in a plank of wood. He left the “free edge,” or natural contour, of the slab un-planed, and reinforced fissures in the wood with “butterfly” joints. Almost all Nakashima seating pieces have smooth, milled edges. Nakashima also contracted with large-scale manufacturers to produce carefully supervised editions of his designs. Knoll has offered his Straight chair — a modern take on the spindle-backed Windsor chair — since 1946; the now-defunct firm Widdicomb-Mueller issued the Shaker-inspired Origins collection in the 1950s.
Nelson Rockefeller in 1973 gave Nakashima his single largest commission: a 200-piece suite for his suburban New York estate. Today, Nakashima furniture is collected by both the staid and the fashionable: his work sits in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian Institution, as well as in the homes of Steven Spielberg, Brad Pitt, Diane von Furstenberg and the late Steve Jobs.
Knoll
As a company that produced many of the most famous and iconic furniture designs of the 20th century, Knoll was a chief influence in the rise of modern design in the United States. Led by Florence Knoll, the firm would draw stellar talents such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Eero Saarinen into its compass. Their work would help change the face of the American home and office.
The company was formed in 1938 by the German immigrant Hans Knoll. He first worked with his fellow ex-pat, the Danish designer Jens Risom, who created furniture with flowing lines made of wood. While Risom served in World War II, in 1943 Knoll met his future wife, Florence Schust. She had studied and worked with eminent emigré leaders of the Bauhaus, including Mies, Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. She won Knoll over with Bauhaus notions of industrial arts, and an aesthetic that featured flat and tubular metal frames and angular forms. When Hans died in a car crash in 1955, Florence Knoll was appointed head of the company. It was as much through her holistic approach to design — a core division of the firm was dedicated to planning office systems — as Knoll's mid-century modern furnishings themselves that she brought about the sleek and efficient transformation of the American workplace.
Today, classic Knoll furnishings remain staples of modern design collections and decor. A history of modern design is written in pieces such as the elegant Barcelona chair — created by Mies and Lilly Reich — Saarinen’s pedestal Tulip chair, Breuer’s tubular steel Wassily lounge chair and the grid-patterned Diamond chair by Harry Bertoia.
As you can see from the collection of these designs and other vintage Knoll dining chairs, sofas and tables on 1stDibs, this manufacturer's offerings have become timeless emblems of the progressive spirit and sleek sophistication of the best of modernism.
- Early and Rare Pretzel sIDE Chair by George NelsonBy George NelsonLocated in Buffalo, NYEarly and Rare Pretzel sIDE Chair by George Nelson, c 1952,,, gREAT EXAMPLE, Iconic Design. Becoming increasingly harder and harder to find..Nice original condition,, Age appropri...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsPlywood
- Classic Walnut Modernist Table , manner of George NakashimaBy Frank Lloyd Wright, George NakashimaLocated in Buffalo, NYClassic Walnut Modernist Table , manner of George Nakashima / Frank Lloyd Wright,, Great design..Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Tables
MaterialsWalnut
- Orananic Crafts Bench Made Occasional Table, Manner of George NakashimaBy George NakashimaLocated in Buffalo, NYWonderful handcrafted walnut table, amazing figured grained wood, whimsical crows foot design, superior quality and construction.Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWalnut
- Pair cLASSIC Danish Spindle Barrel Back Arm Chairs by George Tanier / DenmarkBy George Tanier, SibastLocated in Buffalo, NYPair cLASSIC Danish Spindle Barrel Back Arm Chairs by George Tanier for Sibast , Made in Denmark...Retains original finish to wood frame, reupholstered in a white wool boucle.Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Birch
- Czech Cubist Side Chair by Vlastislav Hofman, Hofman Chair , ModernistaBy Radomír HofmanLocated in Buffalo, NYOriginally produced in 1911... Vlastislav Hofman designed this chair as part of an interior for the sculptor Josef Maratka. Its austere appearance is...Category
Vintage 1980s Art Deco Chairs
MaterialsWood
- Early Model 65 Chair by Alvar Aalto, ,By Alvar AaltoLocated in Buffalo, NYModel 65 encapsulates designer Alvar Aalto’s approach to systematic, rational design within the context of Finnish minimalism; showcasing clean lines and his favoured use of birchwood.The bolts, showcased along the back legs, imbued the chair with Aalto’s signature industrial design sensibility.This is a wonderful early example,, The color ,,finish and patina is outstanding.. Chair seat has been reupholstered in a classic Marimekko fabricCategory
Vintage 1930s Finnish Bauhaus Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Birch
- 1940s Straight Chair by George NakashimaBy Knoll, George NakashimaLocated in Sagaponack, NYAn early production straight chair with spindles and a shaped seat on four splayed, tapered dowel legs.Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsHickory
$7,200 / item - George Nakashima Straight Chair for KnollBy Knoll, George NakashimaLocated in Los Angeles, CADesigned by master craftsman George Nakashima for Knoll in 1946, the N19 chair was intended as a mass-produced counterpoint to the Nakashima Studio’s popular “Straight Chair...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
MaterialsWalnut
- Pair of Mira Chairs by Mira Nakashima based on a design by George NakashimaBy Mira Nakashima, George NakashimaLocated in Berlin, DEPair of Mira Chairs by Mira Nakashima based on a design by George Nakashima. The chairs are in black walnut and can be signed. Production lead time is ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsWood, Walnut
- George Nakashima Grass Seat ChairsBy George NakashimaLocated in West Palm Beach, FLA set of 4 Grass Seat Chairs by George Nakashima. Nice patina to both wood and grass seats. Original owners name availableCategory
Vintage 1960s American Chairs
MaterialsWalnut
$27,000 / set - George Nakashima Studio Grass Seated ChairBy George Nakashima Studio, George NakashimaLocated in Los Angeles, CAGrass-seated chair from circa 1950s production in black walnut by George Nakashima for Nakashima Studios with original seagrass seat. Two chairs available; priced individually. Meas...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsWalnut, Seagrass
$6,500 / item - Pair of George Nakashima Captain's ChairsBy George NakashimaLocated in West Palm Beach, FLA pair of George Nakashima Chairs. Beautiful original finish. Original clients name on underside of the seat. Elegant details include splines on the ba...Category
Vintage 1960s North American Chairs
MaterialsWalnut
$9,000 / item