1950s George Nakashima Walnut and Woven Grass Seat Stool
View Similar Items
1950s George Nakashima Walnut and Woven Grass Seat Stool
About the Item
- Creator:George Nakashima (Artist)
- Dimensions:Height: 12.5 in (31.75 cm)Width: 18 in (45.72 cm)Depth: 16 in (40.64 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Minor losses. Very good condition throughout. Frame solid and sturdy with minimal wear. Grass rope has some minor losses (which is fairly typical for this design) and has been repaired/retied beneath, not apparent under casual observation. Presents beautifully.
- Seller Location:Brooklyn, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU88265459293
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.
- Harvey Probber Knights Bench in Mahogany, Brass and Leather, Signed, 1950sBy Harvey ProbberLocated in Brooklyn, NY1950s Harvey Probber 'Knights' bench, model number 1173, with arched base and slatted seat in steam-bent mahogany with brass accents, and finished with a channel-tufted cushion. Bras...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsBrass
$5,520 Sale Price20% Off - Charlotte Perriand Tripod Stool in Pine for Les Arcs, 1960sBy Charlotte PerriandLocated in Brooklyn, NYTripod stool in pine designed by Charlotte Perriand for Les Arcs Ski Resort in Savoie, France, comprising a concave seat supported by tapering dowel legs. All original condition with...Category
Vintage 1960s French Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsWood, Pine
- Aperture: Ottoman in Copper by TJ VolonisBy TJ VolonisLocated in Brooklyn, NYTitle: Aperture Year: 2013 Ottoman / footstool executed in 1/2" copper tubing with upholstered seat, inspired by the iconic arc of a camera aperture. The solid squares of the ba...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Industrial Ottomans and Poufs
MaterialsCopper
$2,500 / item - Unusual Freeform Ceramic Bowl in Gray and Red Glazes, Czech Republic, 1950sLocated in Brooklyn, NYA striking and highly unusual slip cast ceramic vessel in a rather complex matte, gray glaze that nearly resembles stone, finished with an intense glossy red glaze to the interior. C...Category
Mid-20th Century Czech Mid-Century Modern Ceramics
MaterialsCeramic
- Stig Sandqvist Sculptural Vessel in Teak, 1950sBy Stig SandqvistLocated in Brooklyn, NYA delicate, petite bowl in teak with asymmetrically upswept ends, hand-carved by Stig Sandkvist. Signed with artist's initials to underside.Category
Mid-20th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Decorative Bowls
MaterialsTeak
$380 Sale Price24% Off - Renato Bassoli Pair of Glazed Ceramic Sassi Vases, 1950sBy Renato BassoliLocated in Brooklyn, NYA pair of glazed earthenware Sassi (stones) sculptures in shades of Mediterranean blue and sea foam green by Renato Bassoli (1915-1982). Bassoli was a multi-disciplined artist with e...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
MaterialsCeramic
- 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
- George Nakashima Rope Seat StoolBy George NakashimaLocated in West Palm Beach, FLA nice Rope seat stool Original surface Some minor breaks in hemp seating(under the stool), but not objectionableCategory
Vintage 1960s American Stools
MaterialsWalnut
- Tony Paul Attributed Stools, Woven Wicker, Solid Beech, United States, 1950sBy Tony PaulLocated in Chiavari, LiguriaSet of three stools with a handwoven wicker top and solid beech legs attributed to the famous American designer Tony Paul. Produced in the late 1950s these stools are in their ori...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsWicker, Beech
- Nakashima Style, Mid-Century Modern, Studio Made Stools, 1970sBy George NakashimaLocated in Stamford, CTPair Mid-Century Modern Nakashima Style Organic Wooden Two Stools / Side Tables Organic form wooden stools from the 20th Century. American studio made, solid wood. These pieces can also work as low profile side tables...Category
Vintage 1970s American Footstools
MaterialsWood
- Fine French 1950s Metal and Leather StoolLocated in Long Island City, NYA fine French mid-century round stool with a black lacquered metal base and a leather cushion.Category
Vintage 1950s French Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsMetal
- Tony Paul Attributed Low Stools, Woven Wicker, Solid Beech, United States, 1950sBy Tony PaulLocated in Chiavari, LiguriaSet of three low stools or footstools with a handwoven wicker top and solid beech legs attributed to the famous American designer Tony Paul. Produced in the late 1950s these stool...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsWicker, Beech