George Nakashima, Greenrock Console Table, Usa, 1987, Original Papers
About the Item
- Creator:George Nakashima (Cabinetmaker)
- Dimensions:Height: 24.81 in (63 cm)Width: 60.24 in (153 cm)Depth: 25.2 in (64 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:1980-1989
- Date of Manufacture:1987
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Wargrave, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU839531399812
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Wargrave, United Kingdom
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 1 day of delivery.
- George Nakashima, Kornblut Cabinet in American Black Walnut, 1972, New Hope USABy George Nakashima Studio, George NakashimaLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireGeorge Nakashima (1905-1990), Kornblut Cabinet in American Black Walnut, made at the Nakashima Studio in New Hope, Pennsylvania, USA in 1972. This ra...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsWalnut, Burl
- George Nakashima, Minguren II Walnut Coffee Table, Signed and Dated 1984By George Nakashima Studio, George NakashimaLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireGeorge Nakashima, Minguren II Coffee Table in Persian walnut and American black walnut, featuring a single slab top with burl detail and bark pockets signed and dated to underside 'G...Category
Vintage 1980s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWalnut
- George Nakashima, Maple Frenchman's Cove Dining Table, signed and dated 1980By George Nakashima, George Nakashima StudioLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireA rare Frenchman's Cove dining table, in maple wood with free-edge top, made by George Nakashima in 1980 Height 73.5cm, the top basically 152.5cm square but slightly wider in places...Category
Vintage 1980s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsMaple
- George Nakashima, American Black Walnut & Hickory Spindle Bench, 1972By George Nakashima Woodworkers, George NakashimaLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireGeorge Nakashima bench, created 1972, carved from a single slab of American black walnut with freeform front edge, and with turned hickory spin...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsHickory, Walnut
- Jean Prouvé, Cité Desk, likely 1940s, original conditionBy Jean ProuvéLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireCité desk with drawer, designed by Jean Prouvé and made in his workshop, Ateliers Jean Prouvé in Nancy, France, probably 1940s Totally original with cream enamel painted metal frame...Category
Vintage 1940s French Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsMetal
- Bernard Schottlander, Mantis Floor Lamp, model BS1B, J T Kalmar, 1950s originalBy J.T. Kalmar, Bernard SchottlanderLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireOriginal vintage Mantis floor light, model BS1B, designed by Bernard Schottlander and manufactured by J T Kalman, Vienna, circa 1956 Black enamelled aluminium shade on a white ename...Category
Vintage 1950s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsAluminum, Steel
- George II Console TableLocated in Greenwich, CTVery fine George II marble top console table, the later grey stone top over molded apron, the front with carved shell over richly gadrooned edge, the ...Category
Antique Mid-18th Century European George III Console Tables
MaterialsMarble
- Classical George I Console TableLocated in Greenwich, CTFine and elegant early Georgian oak marble top console table in the Chinese taste, the original veined marble top with ogee edge, over a similarly molded base, the square cabriole le...Category
Antique 1720s English George I Console Tables
MaterialsMarble
- George Nakashima TableBy George NakashimaLocated in West Palm Beach, FLSpectacular "Q" Table/Bench Created in 1964 by George Nakashima, Expressive Free edge Walnut and very long table for Nakashima Table Signed with a Roman Numeral iii on the underside...Category
Vintage 1960s American Tables
MaterialsWalnut
- George III Mahogany Console TableLocated in Wilson, NCGeorge III mahogany console table with understated elegance, the top has nice figuring and color, the frieze is reeded around the f...Category
Antique 1760s English George III Console Tables
MaterialsMahogany
- George III Serpentine Console TableLocated in Wilson, NCGeorge III serpentine console table, the remarkably wide one board top with beautiful grain and color has a bold yet graceful serpentine shape...Category
Antique 1790s English George III Console Tables
MaterialsMahogany, Pine
- George III Satinwood Console TableLocated in Westwood, NJElegant English inspired satinwood demilune console table with Fine classical swagged marquetry inlay on the top, drawer and sides, raised on tapering legs with brass caps. Dimen...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese George III Console Tables
MaterialsWood