Special Bahut

George Nakashima
Special Bahut, 1979

Dimensions:
38 × 18 × 78 in (W x D x H)
96.52 x 45.72 x 198.12 cm

Material: American Black Walnut, English Oak Burl
Signed: “38 x 18 x 78 Bahut | 3/13/79 Cole | Nakashima”

An exceptional “Special Bahut” by George Nakashima from 1979. The work is highly unique featuring a double, stacked configuration with two sets of doors as opposed to the typical Bahut design which includes a single set of doors and a shorter vertical height.

The Special Bahut’s case is made from American Black Walnut and includes two sets of highly-figured bookmatched doors. Additionally, the work features two pull handles crafted from particularly expressive English Oak Burl. The case sits upon an architectonic cross base and also features Nakashima’s signature exposed, handworked dovetail joinery along the juncture of the top and sides of the cabinet. Inside the Special Bahut, in both cabinet sections are adjustable, open shelves.

Inside of the upper right section of the cabinet is an attached signature plaque which reads: “38 x 18 x 78 Bahut | 3/13/79 Cole | Nakashima”.

The design’s title, Bahut, is a French term referring to a large case piece typically used in a dining room. Ostergard notes that this nomenclature “was chosen for this piece as a gesture commemorating Nakashima’s early years in France. In 1928 he had studied at Fontainebleau and, in the early 1930s, had lived in Paris. The use of a foreign appellation reflects the broadening of Nakashima’s overall design vocabulary in the 1960s. He no longer used names of generic simplicity, such as New Chair and Armchair, but began to include words evocative of other cultures” (‘George Nakashima Full Circle’, Derek E. Ostergard, 1989, p.170).

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.