Wonderful and Early Mira Chair
View Similar Items
Wonderful and Early Mira Chair
About the Item
- Creator:George Nakashima (Cabinetmaker)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 26.78 in (68 cm)Width: 19.69 in (50 cm)Depth: 17.72 in (45 cm)Seat Height: 18.12 in (46 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1958
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Munich, DE
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1005024092102
Mira Chair
A cursory look at the Mira chair by George Nakashima (1905–90) reveals a simple wood form that might be perfectly at home in a 17th-century-era Shaker community in the United States, mid-century Scandinavia or even ancient Japan. That’s not much of a surprise — the American designer traveled widely and drew on varying traditions in his work.
Nakashima was born to Japanese immigrants in Washington state, studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then worked in Paris, Japan and India before returning to the United States. During World War II in 1942, his family was sent to an internment camp in Idaho, where Nakashima trained under a Japanese master wood-carver. Upon his release, the designer moved to New Hope, Pennsylvania, where he established his own practice with a focus on woodworking.
For Nakashima, it was crucial that each piece of furniture be utilized in everyday life — he designed this chair around 1950 for its namesake, his young daughter, Mira. Inspired by Shaker-style craftsmanship, the all-wood piece has a spindle back, a heart-shaped seat and just three tapered legs. Nakashima created three versions of the chair to accommodate Mira's growth over the years, with the two larger ones featuring modest-sized footrests. Today Mira runs her father’s studio, which continues to produce the Mira chair exactly the way he did.
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.
- Wonderful and Unique Dining Chairs by Theodor HellbergBy Theodor HellbergLocated in Munich, DEA unique pair - handcrafted in two kinds of wood 1935 - by cabinetmaker Theodor Hellberg located in Norrköping/ Denmark.Category
Vintage 1930s Danish Scandinavian Modern Chairs
MaterialsWood
- wonderful vienna secession patio chairsBy Koloman MoserLocated in Munich, DEamazing patio or garden chairs from vienna. showing the clear lines of vienna secession. i can ship in 2 boxes with dhl .Category
Vintage 1920s Austrian Vienna Secession Chairs
MaterialsIron
$1,758 / set - Wonderful Set of 2 Cane Lounge Chairs by Roberto MangoBy Roberto MangoLocated in Munich, DEA timeless design from the 50thies.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsCane
- FK6725 Tulip Chair by Fabricius and Kastholm '2 Available'By Jørgen Kastholm & Preben FabriciusLocated in Munich, DEShowroom models in good condition. With swivel bases. These chairs have been designed 1968 and produced by Walter knoll.Category
Vintage 1960s German Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsLeather
$1,868 Sale Price / item26% Off - FK6725 Tulip Chair by Fabricius and KastholmBy Jørgen Kastholm & Preben FabriciusLocated in Munich, DEShowroom model in very good condition. With swivel base.Category
Vintage 1960s German Scandinavian Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsLeather
- very light and minimalistic set of 6 chiavari chairsBy Gio Ponti, ChiavariLocated in Munich, DEvery light and minimalistic chiavari chairs. these clear lines have a few elements, that can be seen in quite a few gio ponti designs.Category
Vintage 1960s Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsCane, Wood
$4,396 / item
- Pair of Mira Chairs by Mira Nakashima based on a design by George NakashimaBy George Nakashima, Mira 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
- Wonderful Set 6 Ward Bennett Style Rolling Swivel Chairs Tufted MidcenturyBy Ward Bennett, Shelby WilliamsLocated in Pemberton, NJFabulous set of 6 tufted rolling swivel chairs in race car blue leatherette with cast aluminium star bases and chromed castors. These chairs are in the style of Ward Bennett and reta...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- 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 - New Chair by Mira Nakashima after a Geoge Nakashima design, USABy George Nakashima, George Nakashima StudioLocated in Berlin, DE"New Chair" in black walnut with hickory spindled back by Mira Nakashima after a design by George Nakashima. Please consider the production lead time of about 18 months.Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Ch...
MaterialsWalnut
- 8 Conoid Dining Chairs by Mira Nakashima based on a George Nakashima designBy George Nakashima, George Nakashima WoodworkersLocated in Berlin, DESet of 8 Conoid Dining chairs by Mira Nakashima based on a design by George Nakashima. All chairs can be signed (just an example on the photo). Importa...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Ch...
MaterialsWalnut
- Concordia Chair by Mira Nakashima based on a George Nakashima design, USABy George Nakashima Studio, George NakashimaLocated in Berlin, DEMira Nakashima Concordia Chair based on a design by George Nakashima. Outstanding grain on the seat, can be signed. Important: Please consider the prod...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Ch...
MaterialsWalnut