GEORGE NAKASHIMA | LONG CHAIR

Private Collection, Merion, Pennsylvania, acquired directly from the artist, 1959

Acquired from the above by the present owner, circa 1989

Derek E. Ostergard, George Nakashima: Full Circle, New York, 1989, pp. 150-151 

Steven Beyer, George Nakashima and the Modernist Moment, James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, PA, 2001, pp. 38-39

Mira Nakashima, Nature, Form, & Spirit: The Life and Legacy of George Nakashima, New York, 2003, pp. 53, 59, 82 (for a drawing of the model) and 89

This lot is offered together with a copy of the original order card.

This rare long chair is a superb illustration of how George Nakashima gave “second life to trees” in his craft. Choosing the ideal type of wood for every project was tantamount to Nakashima, as he wished to honor the spirit of the tree in his pieces. It would often take Nakashima years to find the ideal project for a slab of wood in his extensive collection. Nakashima’s studio air dried and baked these slabs of wood in a kiln, as Nakashima felt that the wood working process was akin to the finishing of a precious diamond. Paradoxically, Nakashima perfected his Japanese techniques of craft while he was imprisoned in an American internment camp during World War II. Nakashima was exposed to the traditional techniques of woodcraft through working with Japanese craftsmen in the prison camp, and he also learned the ability to adapt his designs to fit the materials at hand while he was confined. The aim of Japanese woodcraft is to work with nature, rather than against it, and Nakashima embodied this philosophy in making his pieces. This Long Chair displays how Nakashima firmly believed that good craftsmanship possessed “unseen mortality,” and making the joinery a perceptible part of his work was a signature of Nakashima’s craft. The visible joinery and the fine on this chair to mind the workmanship of the Shakers. Nakashima’s work was a natural continuation of the Shaker tradition, and he thought of himself as a “Japanese Shaker.” This long chair was commissioned directly from Nakashima and retains its original fabric cushions. This chair represents Nakashima at the height of his career, and the free-edged chair arm contains particularly rich figurations.