LAMA BLOG
Just in: George Nakashima Monumental Coffee Table
May 24, 2012
For the past 20 years, we’ve sold pieces by one of America’s most celebrated furniture designers, George Nakashima. His artistry – achieved only through a disciplined devotion to form and technique – elevates the overall value of every one of our auctions. Past highlights include:
- June 2004: Custom dining table designed in 1965 for the Cuyahoga Savings Bank, Cleveland, Ohio. Estimate $40,000 – 60,000, realized $129,250.
- December 2004: Important and unique Conoid room divider. This was the centerpiece for Nakashima’s last important commission, the International Paper Company headquarters in New York. Estimate $40, 000 – 60,000, realized $123,375.
- December 2009: A family’s collection of personal commissions by Nakashima, including a dining table, a pair of couches with plank backs, stools, chairs, and even cutting boards. The total collection of 17 lots realized $327,748.
Born and raised in Spokane, Washington to Japanese parents, George Nakashima spent many of his early years (most of the 1930s) studying in Paris and Japan and was heavily influenced by Japanese architecture as well as the utilitarian principals of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Imperial Hotel. During his stay at a Japanese internment camp during World War II, he mastered the hand tools and joinery techniques of Japanese carpentry. A seamless marriage of pristine American black walnut and modern craftsmanship, Nakashima’s tables, couches, cabinets, and chairs were constructed at his New Hope, Pennsylvania studio throughout the second half of the 20th century.
We’re always excited when we get the privilege to sell a Nakashima piece, but for our 20th anniversary sale coming up this fall, we received a monumental coffee table that we can only describe as truly remarkable. It has all of the elements that collectors are looking for in a table by Nakashima: natural fissures, deep craggy crevices, four rosewood butterfly joints, a very rare asymmetrical base, and a strong, confident signature with the date of 1969. This is being consigned by the original owner and has never been on the market.
- Paul Des Marais, Contributing Writer
For more information on the Nakashima monumental coffee table, please email Shannon Loughrey, shannon@lamodern.com.
We will continue accepting consignments until June 29, 2012.