Pair of George Nakashima Grass Seat Stools
View Similar Items
Pair of George Nakashima Grass Seat Stools
About the Item
- Creator:George Nakashima (Artist)
- Design:Grass-Seated Chair
- Dimensions:Height: 12.75 in (32.39 cm)Width: 18 in (45.72 cm)Depth: 12 in (30.48 cm)Seat Height: 12.75 in (32.39 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:West Palm Beach, FL
- Reference Number:Seller: 65001stDibs: LU2592319199612
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.
- Pair of 19th Century Anglo-Indian Carved FootstoolsLocated in West Palm Beach, FLPair of 19th century Anglo-Indian carved footstools Each one with exceptional pierced figural carving, with newly upholstered cushions in a subtle neutral stripped silk. Raised on ...Category
Antique Mid-19th Century Indian Anglo-Indian Stools
MaterialsUpholstery, Hardwood
- Classical Carved Hardwood Piano Stool with Dolphins, New York, Circa 1825Located in West Palm Beach, FLClassical Carved Hardwood Piano Stool with Dolphins, New York, circa 1825 A truly exceptional classical carved hardwood piano stool with dolphins, originating from New York circa 18...Category
Antique Early 19th Century Stools
MaterialsIron
- Set of Three Modern Iron & Stitched Leather BarstoolsLocated in West Palm Beach, FLSet of three modern iron & stitched leather barstools. USA, later 20th century. A stunning set of three sculptural wrought iron bar stools with stitched Saddle leather backrests an...Category
Late 20th Century American Modern Stools
MaterialsIron
$3,160 Sale Price / set20% Off - Large Pair of Turquoise Chinese Export Figures of Seated DucksLocated in West Palm Beach, FLLarge Pair of Turquoise Chinese Export Figures of Seated Ducks China, 1900s A good pair of Chinese Export Figures of Seated Ducks in a stunning turquoi...Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Ceramics
MaterialsPorcelain
- Pair of Hollywood Regency Moorish Majolica Camel Garden SeatsLocated in West Palm Beach, FLPair of Hollywood Regency Moorish Majolica camel garden seats, vibrantly decorated of a seated saddled camel with 8.5 x 7" top.Category
20th Century North American Hollywood Regency Garden Ornaments
MaterialsPottery
- Pair of Diminutive Bennington Style Rockingham-Glazed Figures of Seated PoodlesBy Bennington PottersLocated in West Palm Beach, FLPair of Diminutive Bennington Style Rockingham-Glazed Figures of seated Poodles USA, 20th 1950s A charming later version of Bennington pottery works, Each diminutive seated pood...Category
20th Century American High Victorian Animal Sculptures
MaterialsPottery
- 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
- 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 - 1960s Walnut Stool by George NakashimaBy George NakashimaLocated in Sagaponack, NYA walnut barstool designed by American Craftsman Master George Nakashima with hand-hewn spindles supporting a thin backrest, a shaped seat on four spl...Category
Vintage 1960s American American Craftsman Stools
MaterialsWalnut
- George Nakashima Studio Grass Seated ChairBy George Nakashima Studio, George NakashimaLocated 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 - Set of Four Bar Stools in the Manner of George NakashimaBy George NakashimaLocated in Atlanta, GASet of Four Clean Lined Bar Stools, in the manner of George Nakashima, American, circa 1950s. These look very similar to the spindle back chairs that Na...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsMetal