George Nakashima was a renowned Japanese-American furniture designer and craftsman who left an indelible mark on American design. Nakashima’s significance in the studio craft movement stems from his unique ability to blend traditional Japanese craftsmanship with Japanese and American vernacular and modernist designs, creating furniture that was functional, sculptural and captivating.

Nakashima pioneered a new design vocabulary that bridged the gap between Eastern and Western design sensibilities and Japanese woodworking traditions. He drew his inspiration from natural forms, traditional joinery techniques, and the inherent beauty of wood.

• Born: 1905
• Died: 1990
• Hometown: Spokane, Washington
• Education: University of Washington, MIT

George Nakashima’s Background

Early Life

George Nakashima was born in Spokane, Washington, in 1905 to Japanese parents who had immigrated to the United States. Educated and trained as an architect at the University of Washington, Nakashima received a master’s degree in architecture from M.I.T. in 1930. After working briefly in the United States he left for Paris, seeking the creative energy of one of the great art centers of the day. From there he traveled extensively, ending up at the home of his grandmother on a farm on the outskirts of Tokyo. 

Career Beginnings

In 1934 Nakashima went to work in Tokyo for the architect Antonin Raymond. He volunteered to go to Pondicherry, India, to design and direct the construction of an ashram for the spiritual leader Sri Aurobindo, whose teachings were to shape his philosophy for the rest of his career.

He met Marion Okajima, who was also born in the United States, during his time in Japan. They married and settled in Seattle, where Nakashima opened his first furniture business in 1941. His first important furniture commission, for André Ligné, brought him recognition when the Ligné interior was published in California Arts and Architecture in 1941.

However, after the Pearl Harbor bombing, Nakashima and his family, like many other Americans of Japanese descent, were placed in a concentration camp in Minidoka, Idaho.

Merging Cultures

There he met a Nisei woodworker, Gentauro Hikogawa, and learned the art of traditional Japanese woodworking. Thanks to the sponsorship in 1943 of Antonin Raymond, Nakashima and his family were able to leave the camp and move to Raymond’s farm in Pennsylvania. 

The next year, he set up a workshop on what became the Nakashima homestead in New Hope, Pennsylvania. He maintained and expanded his facilities in New Hope until his death in 1990, at which point he had a staff of about twelve and had produced what is estimated to be thirty-five thousand pieces.

An Inspired Catalog

Nakashima’s earliest designs were all custom-made to suit the particular needs of the client. In 1945 he produced a small catalog with three chair and five table designs, so that not everything had to be custom work, followed by a larger catalog of fourteen pieces and then another with twenty-three. In 1955 he issued his first major catalog, presenting a standardized set of designs that could be customized, when necessary.

While innovative, his very early work was relatively straightforward, for the most part lacking the free edges and other details for which he became famous. In the late 1950s, when he began to build the Conoid Studio on his property, he developed the Conoid line, adding a significant architectural component to his furniture. This series was a major leap in that the modernist structures of his furniture designs became of much greater significance. In the 1960s, while building the Minguren Museum on his property, he developed another architecturally inspired line-the Minguren series- that again shifted the basic approach of the studio. The hiring of his daughter Mira in 1970, commissions from the Nelson Rockefellers in 1973 and the International Paper Company in 1980, and his ability to source better and better woods led to some of Nakashima’s most mature and exciting work in this period.

A Legacy of Innovation

George Nakashima was one of the great innovators of twentieth-century design, offering an approach that was like nothing that had gone before. He brought together at least two incongruous styles, traditional Japanese and American vernacular design, and merged them with a modern sensibility. In so doing, he articulated a design vocabulary that was based on the use of free edges, sapwood, knots, crotch figuring, natural flaws in wood, revealed joinery, and butterfly joints. The tree was where everything began. Nakashima’s inventory of wood was legendary and was the wellspring of all his designs. He “saw” wood in a way that no one before him had been able to. Indeed, many thought he was crazy for buying “junk” wood that they would have rejected due to its imperfections. 

Nakashima’s Singular Vision 

Despite an intense and comprehensive design process, Nakashima would explain his reluctance to sign his work with the statement, “The work is not about me, it’s about the tree, it’s about nature.” Because his own words emphasize the tree, its second life as a functional object, and the concept that each board has one ideal use, it is tempting and sometimes easy to overlook the design aspect of Nakashima’s work. Rather than focus exclusively on the drama and beauty of the wood, we must also consider the heart, mind, and hand of the maker. No board cut itself, jumped on a base and made a beautiful table. Nakashima and those who worked with him toiled hard to make that happen. There was a careful design process, one that grew and developed during his lifetime. To make a piece of furniture that has a sense of simplicity and purity is not the same as making a simple one.

Process + Craftsmanship  

Each piece was carefully shaped throughout: first as a mental image, then on paper, then on the boards themselves in chalk or pencil, and finally as a three-dimensional form. Even the very first decisions about how to cut the tree were design decisions that had to take into account how the grain of the tree would be most interesting and how the piece of wood might be used. “Each cut requires judgments and decisions on what the log should become,” Nakashima wrote in his book The Soul of a Tree. “As in cutting a diamond, the judgments must be precise and exact concerning thickness and direction of cut, especially through ‘figures,’ the complicated designs resulting from the tree’s grain.” 

Nakashima developed his own oil-based finishes that enhanced the grain of the wood and brought out the qualities that made each board special. He would take customers into his wood storage area and together they would select a board. With the board in his mind’s eye, Nakashima would go back to his studio, and in a short time he drew the final piece including sapwood, knotholes, cracks, butterfly joints, and the placement of the legs—all in precise detail. This drawing would then be converted to shop drawings, and the process of construction could begin. The entire effect was so balanced that the myriad decisions made to achieve it are easy to overlook. Creating furniture that seemed natural was complex and demanded all of Nakashima’s design skills. 

Dedication to Details 

In turn, in-depth study is required to recognize the meticulousness of the design and execution. Nakashima was very detail-oriented and closely supervised every stage of the construction process. Everything was planned, designed, drawn, and reworked before it was made. As he noted in The Soul of a Tree, “The error of a fraction of an inch can make the design fail absolutely.” 

Nakashima’s devotion to design is perhaps best illustrated by using the chair as a case study. “What a personality a chair has! Chairs rest and restore the body, and should evolve from the material selected and the predetermined personal requirements which impose their restrictions on form, rather than the other way around,” Nakashima wrote, adding, “Some parts, such as spindles, are used primarily for strength, and aesthetics becomes a secondary consideration. These can be beautiful, however, and the error of just a sixteenth of an inch in the thickness of a spindle can mean the difference between an artistically pleasing chair and a failure. Function, beauty and simplicity of line are the main goals in the construction of a chair.”

Nakashima Furniture Style and Medium

Nakashima was renowned for his exquisite woodworking craftsmanship, particularly in creating studio furniture. He is best known for designing elegant, organic furniture pieces that showcased the natural beauty of the wood.

Nakashima’s style emphasized simplicity, functionality, and a deep respect for the materials he used. He often incorporated elements such as live edges, knots, and other natural features of the wood into his designs, a radical concept that diverged from the clean lines and homogenous materials typically employed by designers prior. 

George Nakashima’s furniture designs are revered for their timeless elegance, craftsmanship, and historical value, as well as their enduring appeal to collectors. His pieces can be found in museums, galleries, and private collections around the world, serving as a testament to his lasting impact on the world of design.

A Blend of Inspirations

What is especially impressive about Nakashima’s work is that each piece is a unique statement. While there are some structural and design similarities between his work and that of others working at the same time in the United States and Europe, what is overwhelmingly clear is that Nakashima’s furniture in no way depended on or was derivative of what was going on around him. In fact, while he spent two years in Paris at the height of the art deco period and then worked under Antonin Raymond in Japan and India from 1934 to 1939, his furniture has little to do with art deco or the majority of Raymond’s modernist furniture designs.

If he took anything from Raymond, he extracted what he wanted and let the rest go. This is not to say that he lived in a vacuum, but with all that was happening around him in France, India, and Japan, he found his own way, and his way was about the tree. 

Enduring Legacy

As one of the most important figures of 20th-century design, Nakashima’s legacy continues to inspire generations of artisans, designers, and enthusiasts, reminding us of the transformative power of creativity, craftsmanship, and cultural exchange. His enduring influence continues to inspire contemporaries and is notable in the works of his peers, such as Wharton Esherick, Sam Maloof, and contemporary artists like Fabien Dubrunfaut and Miriam Carpenter.

What Type of Wood Did George Nakashima Use?

Nakashima’s favored wood types included walnut, cherished for its rich color and intricate grain patterns, and cherry, prized for its warm tones and smooth texture. Less often, but quite notable. Nakashima also used East Indian rosewood, English oak burl, East Indian laurel, maple and other wood species. 

Nakashima’s “Conoid” Style

Some of Nakashima’s most famous pieces include his iconic “Conoid” chairs, tables, cabinets, and benches, which are celebrated for their graceful forms and meticulous craftsmanship. He began the Conoid designs in 1958 while he was designing and building his Conoid Studio.

The Conoid Chair

The Conoid chair features a modernized Asian yoke back crest rail and sculpted seat designed to provide both comfort and visual appeal, while it still maintains a close affinity to the Windsor chair. The Conoid chair, now a modernist icon, also owes a debt to the 1924 and 1927 cantilevered chair designs by Heinz and Bodo Rasch. This unusual and complex combination of Eastern, Western, and modernist influences led each chair to evolve into a unique George Nakashima design.

Another example, Nakashima’s Conoid wall hung desk, incorporates similar design elements, with gently curved edges and legs that appear to grow organically from the tabletop.

Moderne Gallery has a variety of George Nakashima furniture pieces currently available for collectors, including:

• Arm Chairs
• Dining Tables
• Rocking Chairs
• Coffee Tables
• Benches
• Beds/Headboards
• Book/Music Stands
• Bookcases
• Desks
• Lighting
• Chests of Drawers
• Dining Chairs
• Nightstands
• Sideboards
• Stools/Ottomans
• End Tables
• Daybeds/Chaises

George Nakashima Furniture Today

George Nakashima’s furniture remains highly sought after and popular in the design marketplace, particularly among collectors who prize its craftsmanship, historical significance, and limited production.

The Nakashima Woodworker studio, founded by George Nakashima and now run by his daughter, Mira Nakashima, continues to produce furniture using many of the same techniques and design principles established by George Nakashima himself. The studio produces both new pieces inspired by Nakashima’s designs and authentic reproductions of his original works.

In addition to the studio’s offerings, Nakashima’s furniture can also be found through antique dealers, auction houses, and specialty galleries that focus on mid-century modern design.

The George Nakashima Collection at Moderne Gallery

Moderne Gallery is a premier authority on Studio Craft furniture with extensive experience in the verification and sale of George Nakashima’s works. Our expertise enables us to authentically verify and handle these pieces with the utmost respect and admiration for Nakashima’s lasting impact and unmatched artistry. Our dedication lies in preserving these treasures and assisting collectors in discovering pieces that resonate deeply with their passions.