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 of chairs, coffee tables and other pieces. 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. (Master craftsperson Mira Nakashima keeps her father’s legacy alive at the George Nakashima Studio in New Hope today. She has been the artistic director of George Nakashima Woodworkers since her father's death, in 1990.)
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, the result of a merger between Widdicomb and Mueller Furniture, 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.
Find vintage George Nakashima furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
George Nakashima Studio Conoid Bench Signed Mira Nakashima, 1992
By Mira Nakashima, George Nakashima
Located in New York, NY
George Nakashima Studio Conoid bench signed Mira Nakashima 1992. The bench is walnut has hickory spindles and rosewood butterfly joints. This bench was commissioned for a private col...
Hickory, Walnut
Brutalist Oak Wooden bench Vintage
By George Nakashima
Located in Paddington, NSW
Vintage live-edge bench crafted from solid oak wood, showcasing a beautifully sculptural seat with organic, flowing contours that emphasise the natural character of the material. The...
Oak
$1,250
H 12 in W 44.5 in D 12 in
Vintage American Hand-Carved Live-Edge Studio Bench - Manner of George Nakashima
By George Nakashima
Located in Morristown, NJ
Beautifully sculptural live-edge bench, hand-crafted from a single solid slab of American white oak with an organically contoured seat and four splayed legs. The asymmetrical form ce...
Wood, Oak
$2,495
H 22.75 in W 60 in D 30 in
Large Mid-Century Modern Walnut Plank Bench Or Table - George Nakashima Inspired
By George Nakashima
Located in Kennesaw, GA
Killer Bench! This is a mid-century organic modern large plank bench or coffee table in the manner of George Nakashima. It is an expansive 60 inch walnut plank supported by sculptura...
Walnut
English Walnut Live Edge Spindle Bench by Robert George
By Robert George Studio, George Nakashima
Located in Towcester, England
Timeless and dynamic, this solid English Walnut bench, hand crafted using a single live edge slab of local provenance Walnut with hand carved spindles and back rest details, will wor...
Walnut
1954 George Nakashima Studio 72 inch Three Seat Slatted Sofa / Settee
By George Nakashima Woodworkers, George Nakashima
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This is a rare settee crafted by George Nakashima in 1954, acquired from the family of the original owners. This is an iconic example of the slatted series, which in many cases was i...
Fabric, Foam, Walnut
$5,800
H 19 in W 57 in D 17 in
Organic Modern "Aligné" Slatted Bench in Solid Ambrosia Maple by Mark Leblanc
By Wendell Castle, George Nelson, George Nakashima
Located in Deland, FL
Combining natural materials with classic clean lines, rounded shapes, and smooth surfaces this entryway bench is the very definition of 'Organic Modern'. Hand-crafted from solid Ambrosia Maple, coveted for it's variety of greyish-blue to brown streaks that are caused by an infestation of the ambrosia beetle, this gossip bench exudes natural tones, colors and textures that fill any space with a warm elemental perception. The slat design simultaneously adds depth whilst presenting an airy, minimalist frame making this piece architecturally fascinating from all angels. This firet edition bench has been designed and handcrafted by Mark LeBlanc...
Maple
Sculptural Walnut Low Table or Bench
By George Nakashima
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Fantastic low table or bench in the style of American studio craft designer George Nakashima. Beautifully crafted legs also reminiscent of French Primitive Modern design. Expressiv...
Walnut
$2,750
H 18.25 in W 60 in D 12 in
Free-Form Walnut Bench By Herbert Millstone After Phillip Lloyd Powell
By Phillip Lloyd Powell
Located in Southampton, NJ
A beautifully hand carved Freeform studio bench in solid walnut by master craftsman Herbert Millstone circa 1963. Millstone was known to host lunch parties for the likes of Paul Evan...
Ash, Walnut
$35,000
H 12 in W 19 in D 108 in
Monumental George Nakashima Disciple American Black Walnut 9 Foot "Slab" Bench
By George Nakashima
Located in Bedford Hills, NY
A rare and impressive "Slab" form bench by the master of the American Studio Furniture movement, George Nakashima. This piece features a massive, single-slab top of American Black Wa...
Walnut
