George Nakashima for Knoll Walnut and Hickory Windsor Straight Chair
View Similar Items
George Nakashima for Knoll Walnut and Hickory Windsor Straight Chair
About the Item
- Creator:Knoll (Manufacturer),George Nakashima (Designer)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 29.88 in (75.9 cm)Width: 21.63 in (54.95 cm)Depth: 18.25 in (46.36 cm)Seat Height: 16.75 in (42.55 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (In the Style Of)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Early 21st Century
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Excellent original vintage condition. Minor wear expected with age and use.
- Seller Location:South Bend, IN
- Reference Number:Seller: Liberty & 33rd Furniture Co. #64891stDibs: LU2745322709322
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.
Knoll
As a company that produced many of the most famous and iconic furniture designs of the 20th century, Knoll was a chief influence in the rise of modern design in the United States. Led by Florence Knoll, the firm would draw stellar talents such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Eero Saarinen into its compass. Their work would help change the face of the American home and office.
The company was formed in 1938 by the German immigrant Hans Knoll. He first worked with his fellow ex-pat, the Danish designer Jens Risom, who created furniture with flowing lines made of wood. While Risom served in World War II, in 1943 Knoll met his future wife, Florence Schust. She had studied and worked with eminent emigré leaders of the Bauhaus, including Mies, Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. She won Knoll over with Bauhaus notions of industrial arts, and an aesthetic that featured flat and tubular metal frames and angular forms. When Hans died in a car crash in 1955, Florence Knoll was appointed head of the company. It was as much through her holistic approach to design — a core division of the firm was dedicated to planning office systems — as Knoll's mid-century modern furnishings themselves that she brought about the sleek and efficient transformation of the American workplace.
Today, classic Knoll furnishings remain staples of modern design collections and decor. A history of modern design is written in pieces such as the elegant Barcelona chair — created by Mies and Lilly Reich — Saarinen’s pedestal Tulip chair, Breuer’s tubular steel Wassily lounge chair and the grid-patterned Diamond chair by Harry Bertoia.
As you can see from the collection of these designs and other vintage Knoll dining chairs, sofas and tables on 1stDibs, this manufacturer's offerings have become timeless emblems of the progressive spirit and sleek sophistication of the best of modernism.
- Finn Juhl for Baker Furniture Teak and Cane Dining Chairs, Set of FourBy Baker Furniture Company, Finn JuhlLocated in South Bend, INA gorgeous set of four mid-century Danish Modern dining chairs By Finn Juhl for Baker Furniture India, 1950s Sculpted teak frames, with caned seats and backs. Measures: 2...Category
Vintage 1950s Indian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsCane, Teak
- Paul McCobb Planner Group Birch and Cane Dining Chairs or Side Chairs, PairBy Planner Group, Paul McCobbLocated in South Bend, INA sleek and stylish pair of Mid-Century Modern side chairs or dining chairs By Paul McCobb for Winchendon Furniture, "Planner Group" USA, 1950s Sculpted solid birch, with ca...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Cane, Birch
- Massimo Vignelli for Knoll Postmodern Handkerchief Chair, 7 AvailableBy Massimo Vignelli, KnollLocated in South Bend, INA stylish postmodern stacking "handkerchief" chair By Massimo Vignelli for Knoll International USA, 1980s Molded fiberglass seat, with powder coated steel base. Measures: 23.5"W ...Category
Vintage 1980s American Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Massimo Vignelli for Knoll Postmodern Handkerchief Chair, 29 AvailableBy Knoll, Massimo VignelliLocated in South Bend, INA stylish postmodern stacking "handkerchief" chair By Massimo Vignelli for Knoll International USA, 1980s Molded fiberglass seat, with powder coated steel base. Measures: 23.5"W x 21"D x 28.75"H. Seat height 17.5". Newly professionally powder coated bases and power washed seats. Very good condition. Priced individually. 29 chairs...Category
Vintage 1980s American Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Massimo Vignelli for Knoll International Postmodern Handkerchief Chairs, TwelveBy Massimo Vignelli, KnollLocated in South Bend, INA stylish set of twelve Postmodern stacking "handkerchief" chairs By Massimo Vignelli for Knoll International USA, 1980s Molded fiberglass seat...Category
Vintage 1980s American Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Paul McCobb Mid-Century Modern Fiberglass Origami Chair, 1950sBy Paul McCobbLocated in South Bend, INA rare Mid-Century Modern molded fiberglass "origami" chair By Paul McCobb for St. John Seating Corporation USA, 1950s Measures: 21" W x 22.5" D x 32.5" H. Seat height 18". ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- George Nakashima Straight Chair for KnollBy George Nakashima, KnollLocated in Los Angeles, CADesigned by master craftsman George Nakashima for Knoll in 1946, the N19 chair was intended as a mass-produced counterpoint to the Nakashima Studio’s popular “Straight Chair...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
MaterialsWalnut
- Early George Nakashima Straight Chair for Knoll AssociatesBy Knoll, George Nakashima WoodworkersLocated in Philadelphia, PABeautiful early version of the N19 straight back chair in birch. Designed and made by George Nakashima and sold by Knoll associates. this early v...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsBirch
- 1947 George Nakashima for Knoll N19 Straight Chair in Natural BirchBy George Nakashima, KnollLocated in Philadelphia, PAListed for sale is a gorgeous early George Nakashima for Knoll N19 birch straight chair, produced by Knoll Associates. This chair appears to be natural birch. It shows some wear from...Category
Vintage 1940s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsBirch
- 1947 Pair of George Nakashima for Knoll N19 Straight Chairs in Natural BirchBy George Nakashima, KnollLocated in Philadelphia, PAListed for sale is a gorgeous pair of early George Nakashima for Knoll N19 birch straight chairs, produced by Knoll Associates. This chair appears to be natural birch. It shows some ...Category
Vintage 1940s American Modern Side Chairs
MaterialsBirch
- 1940s Straight Chair by George NakashimaBy George Nakashima, KnollLocated in Sagaponack, NYAn early production straight chair with spindles and a shaped seat on four splayed, tapered dowel legs.Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsHickory
$7,200 / item - George Nakashima 'New' Armchairs in Walnut and HickoryBy George Nakashima, George Nakashima StudioLocated in Waalwijk, NLGeorge Nakashima, ‘New’ armchairs, walnut, hickory, United States, 1960s With regard to its essential form, material use, and woodwork, this ‘New’ armchair is a testimony to George...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsWalnut, Hickory
$11,000 / item