George Nakashima
Kevin End Table, 1981
Material: English Walnut, American Black Walnut, Rosewood
A remarkable Kevin End Table by George Nakashima featuring a highly expressive, free form top crafted from a single slab of English Walnut.
The organic, undulating top form of the table works in a contrapuntal harmony with the strong architectural angularity of the base and support structures.
The Kevin End Table is named after George Nakashima’s son, Kevin Nakashima. Described as an “eccentric, angled form”, a key characteristic of a Kevin End Table design is the supportive projection of the slanted base above the cantilevered top.
Along with this end table design, George Nakashima also affectionately named the natural, honest wear seen on well-loved furniture pieces after his son, Kevin: “My father often said that his furniture should not be considered overly precious, and that it was meant to be lived with. He extolled the virtues of the wear and tear left by everyday living on furniture – which he called “Kevinizing” after the distress our own furniture sustained from my younger brother Kevin. Nakashima furniture is meant to be lived with as a member of the family full of imperfections as we all are, but maintaining a sense of balance and equanimity through all stages of life. If properly lived with, it becomes a tangible chronicle of people’s lives as it ages”
(‘Nature, Form, and Spirit’, Mira Nakashima, 2003, p. 116).
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 his Master’s degree in Architecture from M.I.T. in 1930. After working briefly as an architect in the United States he left for Paris seeking the creative energies of one of the great urban centers of the day. From there he traveled extensively, ending up at the home of his grandmother, living on a farm on the outskirts of Tokyo.
| Dimensions | 43 × 31 × 23 in |
|---|---|
| Artist | |
| Date | 1981 |
| Material | American black walnut, English Walnut, Rosewood |
| Style |
