George Nakashima Live Edge Floating Wall Shelf
View Similar Items
George Nakashima Live Edge Floating Wall Shelf
About the Item
- Creator:George Nakashima (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 3.5 in (8.89 cm)Width: 37 in (93.98 cm)Depth: 16 in (40.64 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1955
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Costa Mesa, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU138423715872
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.
- Floating Burlwood Buffet or Credenza by Janet Schweitzer for Pace CollectionBy Pace Collection, Janet SchweitzerLocated in Costa Mesa, CAFloating Burlwood Buffet or Credenza by Janet Schweitzer for Pace Collection, ca. 1970. Beautiful original burl wood with high gloss lacquer finish. All original hardware and adjus...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsBurl
- George Nelson for Herman Miller 72" Slatted Platform Bench, 2002By George Nelson, Herman MillerLocated in Costa Mesa, CAGeorge Nelson for Herman Miller 72" Slatted Platform Bench, 2002. Classic and timeless, this George Nelson bench has just the right amount of 20+ years of great honey colored patina...Category
Early 2000s American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsBirch
- George Nelson for Herman Miller Drop-Leaf Desk Model 4754, ca. 1955By George Nelson, Herman MillerLocated in Costa Mesa, CAGeorge Nelson for Herman Miller Drop-Leaf Desk Model 4754, ca. 1955. Professionally restored in showroom condition, this beautiful desk has a drop leaf on the left side with all orig...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsMahogany
$2,500 Sale Price28% Off - Ceramic Wall Relief by California Artist Adele Martin, 'Manzanita Tree-Night'Located in Costa Mesa, CACeramic Wall Relief by California Artist Adele Martin, 'Manzanita Tree-Night' Original one of a kind ceramic wall relief sculpture by California artist Adele Martin, each tile is han...Category
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Wall-mounted Sculptures
MaterialsCeramic
$1,196 Sale Price20% Off - Ceramic Wall Relief by California Artist Adele Martin, 'Manzanita Tree-Day'Located in Costa Mesa, CACeramic wall relief by California Artist Adele Martin, 'Manzanita Tree-Day' Original one of a kind ceramic wall relief sculpture by California artist Adel...Category
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Wall-mounted Sculptures
MaterialsCeramic
- Ceramic Wall Relief by California Artist Adele Martin, 'New Alphabet-Dialog'Located in Costa Mesa, CACeramic Wall Relief by California Artist Adele Martin, 'New Alphabet-Dialog' Original one of a kind ceramic wall relief sculpture by California artist Ade...Category
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Wall-mounted Sculptures
MaterialsCeramic
$2,200 Sale Price20% Off
- Midcentury Danish Rosewood Wall Mounted Cabinet or Floating ShelfBy Hansen & Guldborg MøblerLocated in Detroit, MIThis vintage Mid-Century Modern Hansen & Guldborg wall-mounted cabinet, floating shelf or media console made in Denmark circa 1965 has a Classic Danish modern design with clean, Minimalist lines. Well constructed from rosewood the cabinet features beautiful sculpted wood cabinet pulls...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Shelves and Wall Cabinets
MaterialsRosewood
- Noviembre XVIII Wall Shelf in Burned Oak Wood, Floating Shelf by Joel EscalonaBy Joel EscalonaLocated in Estado de Mexico CP, Estado de MexicoNoviembre XVIII Wall Shelf in Burned Oak Wood, Floating Shelf by Joel Escalona The Noviembre collection is inspired by the creative values of Constantin Brancusi, a Romanian sculpto...Category
2010s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Shelves and Wall Cabinets
MaterialsOak, Wood, Hardwood
- Noviembre XVIII Wall Shelf in Oak Wood, Floating Shelf by Joel EscalonaBy Joel EscalonaLocated in Estado de Mexico CP, Estado de MexicoNoviembre XVIII Wall Shelf in Oak Wood, Floating Shelf by Joel Escalona The Noviembre collection is inspired by the creative values of Constantin Brancusi, a Romanian sculptor consi...Category
2010s Mexican Scandinavian Modern Shelves and Wall Cabinets
MaterialsOak, Wood, Hardwood
- Noviembre XVIII Wall Shelf in Walnut Wood, Floating Shelf by Joel EscalonaBy Joel EscalonaLocated in Estado de Mexico CP, Estado de MexicoNoviembre XVIII Wall Shelf in Oak Wood, Floating Shelf by Joel Escalona The Noviembre collection is inspired by the creative values of Constantin Brancusi, a Romanian sculptor con...Category
2010s Mexican Scandinavian Modern Shelves and Wall Cabinets
MaterialsWood, Hardwood, Walnut
$5,072 Sale Price / item20% Off - Midcentury Danish Modern Pedersen & Hansen Teak Wood Floating Wall ShelfBy Pedersen & HansenLocated in Savannah, GAThis handsome Pedersen & Hansen teak floating modernist wall shelf is from the Mid-20th Century and has a storage depth of 7.25 inches on bottom- ...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Shelves and Wall Cabinets
MaterialsTeak
$876 Sale Price20% Off - Noviembre XVIII Large Wall Shelf in Oak Wood, Floating Shelf by Joel EscalonaBy Joel EscalonaLocated in Estado de Mexico CP, Estado de MexicoNoviembre XVIII Large Wall Shelf in Oak Wood, Floating Shelf by Joel Escalona The Noviembre collection is inspired by the creative values of Constant...Category
2010s Mexican Modern Shelves and Wall Cabinets
MaterialsOak, Wood, Hardwood
$4,986 Sale Price / item20% Off