George Nakashima, Coffee Table/Bench
View Similar Items
George Nakashima, Coffee Table/Bench
About the Item
- Creator:George Nakashima (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 13.25 in (33.66 cm)Width: 84 in (213.36 cm)Depth: 24 in (60.96 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1977
- Condition:
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU9947867029
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.
- French Contemporary Ceramic Coffee TableBy Marianne VissiereLocated in New York, NYCeramic table in black glaze and black and white "Raku" tiles, metal frame, Signed: Vissiere.Category
2010s French Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsCeramic
- Marianne Vissiere, Ceramic Coffee Table with PlanterBy Marianne VissiereLocated in New York, NYMarianne Vissiere, 2014. Ceramic coffee table with planter, cream and red glaze tiles, black painted metal base. Signed.Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMetal
- Le Corbusier Desk / TableBy Le CorbusierLocated in New York, NYLe Corbusier table or desk, 1931-1932 Grey enameled metal and wood. All original. Provenance: Pavillon Suisse, Cite Universitaire, Paris.Category
20th Century French Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsMetal
$30,000 - Pierre Jeanneret, Chair with Single ArmBy Pierre JeanneretLocated in New York, NYPierre Jeanneret, circa 1960. Single armchair, teak and cane. Provenance: Punjab University, Chandigarh, India.Category
Mid-20th Century Indian Chairs
MaterialsCane, Wood, Teak
- Pierre Jeanneret, 1958 Single Armed ChairBy Pierre JeanneretLocated in New York, NYPierre Jeanneret, Circa 1958 Slatted seat and back, single armed chair in teak. Provenance: Chandigarh, India.Category
Mid-20th Century Indian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsTeak
- Pierre Jeanneret De-Mountable Daybed with Headrest, Circa 1956By Pierre JeanneretLocated in New York, NYPierre Jeanneret, De-mountable Daybed with Headrest in Stained Cedar Wood, Cotton Straps and Leather upholstery. Provenance: Commissioned for MLA Hostel and Flats, Private Residence...Category
20th Century Indian Mid-Century Modern Daybeds
MaterialsCedar
- Live Edge Solid Slab Coffee Table or Bench in the Style of George NakashimaBy George NakashimaLocated in Topeka, KSIncredible midcentury live edge or free edge solid slab coffee table or bench in the style of George Nakashima. It is in wonderful vintage condition with normal wear, circa 1950s-198...Category
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWood
- 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 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
- Live Edge Elongated Organic Shape Coffee Table BenchBy George NakashimaLocated in Rockaway, NJMid-Century Modern beautiful wood grain live edge organic shape coffee table. Elongated rounded shape. The wood seems to be walnut.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWalnut
- Mid Century Nakashima Style Bench / Coffee TableBy George NakashimaLocated in San Francisco, CAMid Century organic modern Nakashima style bench or coffee table. Made of very old wonderfully weathered hardwood. Perfect size for a bench at th...Category
Mid-20th Century American Organic Modern Benches
MaterialsHardwood
- George Nakashima Studio Conoid Bench Signed Mira Nakashima, 1992By Mira Nakashima, George 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