Early George Nakashima Conoid Bench c. 1964
View Similar Items
Early George Nakashima Conoid Bench c. 1964
About the Item
- Creator:George Nakashima (Designer)
- Design:Conoid BenchConoid Series
- Dimensions:Height: 29.5 in (74.93 cm)Width: 81.5 in (207.01 cm)Depth: 36 in (91.44 cm)Seat Height: 12 in (30.48 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1964
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Brooklyn, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU6858238414012
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.
- Rare Pair of George Nakashima Conoid lounge chairs, 1983By George NakashimaLocated in Brooklyn, NYRare pair of George Nakashima Conoid lounge chairs, 1983. American black walnut. Signed ‘George Nakashima’, Oct 1983. Introduced in 1961, th...Category
Mid-20th Century American Lounge Chairs
MaterialsWalnut
- Early Isamu Noguchi Akari light sculpture, Model K.By Isamu NoguchiLocated in Brooklyn, NYIsamu Noguchi Akari light sculpture. Model K. Early model, marked with iconic red sun and moon ideogram. Hand-made form by Ozeki & Co. Ltd., ...Category
Mid-20th Century Japanese Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBamboo, Paper
- Rare Georges Jouve + Mathieu Mategot 'Patte D'Ours' Ashtray in WhiteBy Mathieu Matégot, Georges JouveLocated in Brooklyn, NYGeorges Jouve 'Patte d’Ours' ashtray in rare crackled white glaze on a Mathieu Matégot black lacquered metal and woven rattan stand. France c. 1951. Und...Category
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Ceramics
MaterialsMetal
- Early Isamu Noguchi Akari Light Sculpture, Model 21NBy Isamu NoguchiLocated in Brooklyn, NYTWO AVAILABLE. SOLD SEPERATELY. Isamu Noguchi Akari light sculpture. Model 21N. Noguchi’s Akari series was started in 1951, model 21N was designed in 1968. This is an early model, ...Category
Mid-20th Century Japanese Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsBamboo, Paper
$20,000 / item - Early Isamu Noguchi Akari Light Sculpture, Model 23NBy Isamu NoguchiLocated in Brooklyn, NYIsamu Noguchi Akari light sculpture. Model 23N. Noguchi’s Akari series started in 1951, model 23N was designed in 1968. This is an early model, marked with iconic red sun and moon i...Category
Mid-20th Century Japanese Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsBamboo, Paper
- Early Isamu Noguchi Akari Light Sculpture, Model 3X Table LampBy Isamu NoguchiLocated in Brooklyn, NYIsamu Noguchi Akari light sculpture. Model 3X table lamp. Early model, marked with iconic red sun and moon ideogram. Hand-made form by Ozeki ...Category
Mid-20th Century Japanese Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- George Nakashima Studio Conoid BenchBy George Nakashima Studio, George NakashimaLocated in Chicago, ILGeorge Nakashima Studio Conoid bench, 84" long. Strongly figured American black walnut with hickory spindles. Sold with a certificate of authenticity Measure: seat height 12.50".Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsHickory, Walnut
- George Nakashima Studio Conoid Bench Signed Mira Nakashima, 1992By George Nakashima, Mira NakashimaLocated in New York, NYGeorge Nakashima Studio Conoid bench signed Mira Nakashima 1992. The bench is walnut has hickory spindles and rosewood butterfly joints. This bench was commissioned for a private col...Category
1990s American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsHickory, Walnut
- Conoid Bench by Mira Nakashima based on a design by George Nakashima, USABy Mira Nakashima, George NakashimaLocated in Berlin, DEConoid bench in walnut, US 2021, by Mira Nakashima based on a George Nakashima design. The Bench is made in black walnut with hickory spindles and is s...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsWood, Walnut
- Conoid Bench by Mira Nakashima based on a design by George Nakashima, USABy Mira Nakashima, George NakashimaLocated in Berlin, DEConoid bench in walnut, US 2021, by Mira Nakashima based on a George Nakashima design. The Bench is made in black walnut with hickory spindles.Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsWood, Walnut
- George Nakashima Inspired Natural Edge Walnut Bench Coffee TableBy George NakashimaLocated in Rio Vista, CAOrganic walnut bench coffee table inspired by George Nakashima constructed from two thick slabs of walnut. Featuring a natural edge and supported by a trestle style base with an expo...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsWalnut
- George Nakashima, American Black Walnut & Hickory Spindle Bench, 1972By George Nakashima, George Nakashima WoodworkersLocated 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
