George Nakashima Grass Seat Chair
View Similar Items
George Nakashima Grass Seat Chair
About the Item
- Creator:George Nakashima (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 27.25 in (69.22 cm)Width: 23 in (58.42 cm)Depth: 18.5 in (46.99 cm)Seat Height: 17 in (43.18 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1959
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Stockton, NJ
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU268938256163
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.
- American Folk Art ArmchairLocated in Stockton, NJVery unique early 20th century American folk art chair made of reclaimed material. Fabulous patina to weathered frame.Category
Early 20th Century American Folk Art Armchairs
MaterialsWood
- Jean Prouvé Side ChairBy Jules Leleu, Jean ProuvéLocated in Stockton, NJSide chair for Martel de Janville Sanatorium, Plateau d'Assy. Ateliers Jean Prouvé, France, 1936.Category
20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsSteel
$5,995 - Set of Four Vintage Bertoia ChairsBy Harry BertoiaLocated in Stockton, NJA set of four vintage Bertoia wire chairs by Knoll. Original red fitted cushions included.Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsMetal
$1,995 / set - Geometric Steel Side ChairLocated in Stockton, NJInteresting and unique cut steel chair with architectural form.Category
Vintage 1980s American Chairs
MaterialsCut Steel
- Set of Four Vintage Tolix Café Chairs by Xavier PauchardBy Tolix, Xavier PauchardLocated in Stockton, NJA set of four original Tolix bistro café chairs designed by Xavier Pauchard. Wonderful patina and red paint to each.Category
Vintage 1950s French Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- 18th Century Bentwood Windsor ChairLocated in Stockton, NJAn interesting late 18th century elm Windsor chair. Interesting and rare continuous bentwood hoop back construction.Category
Antique Late 18th Century American American Colonial Windsor Chairs
MaterialsWood
- 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, George Nakashima StudioLocated 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 - George Nakashima Grass Seat StoolBy George NakashimaLocated in West Palm Beach, FLGeorge Nakashima Grass Seat Stool Re-oiled surface and Sea Grass seat Redone at Nakashima studio.Category
Vintage 1960s American Stools
MaterialsWalnut
- Mid Century George Nakashima Grass Straw Chair in Walnut Produced in 1960sBy George NakashimaLocated in Stockholm, SEVery rare and iconic wooden mid century "grass chair" in American walnut by George Nakashima produced in the 1960s. In good vintage condition with minimal ...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsStraw, Walnut
- George Nakashima New ChairBy George NakashimaLocated in Miami, FLRare and early model 271 or New Chair, the iconic Windsor spindle back chair reimagined by Japanese-American Master Woodworker, George Nakashima in 1956. East Indian Laurel wood in t...Category
Vintage 1950s American American Craftsman Chairs
MaterialsHickory, Walnut
- 1940s Straight Chair by George NakashimaBy George Nakashima, KnollLocated 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
