Dining Chairs in the Style of George Nakashima, USA, 1947, Set of 4

Design
1947

Manufacture
Contemporary

Location
Lonigo, IT

Dining chairs in the style of George Nakashima, seagrass and wood, USA, 1947, set of four.

These dining chairs, in the style of George Nakashima, embody a fusion of traditional Japanese woodworking and modernist design. Crafted from wood with hand-woven seagrass seats, they feature a low, curved semicircular backrest, balancing visual softness with structural tension. Each chair celebrates the natural beauty of the material, allowing the grain, texture, and organic character of the wood to remain visible, recalling Nakashima’s belief in the spiritual resonance of living materials. Their restrained construction and tactile surfaces evoke a philosophy in which craftsmanship honors nature rather than conceals it.

Nakashima’s design philosophy was shaped by close collaboration with Antonin and Noémi Raymond and architect Junzō Yoshimura, whose work, such as the Shofuso House in Philadelphia, bridged Japanese tradition and modernist clarity. His formative years also included time at the Minidoka internment camp, where he studied under master carpenter Gentaro Hikogawa, refining his sense of joinery and craftsmanship. After the war, Nakashima established his studio in New Hope, Pennsylvania, with the help of the Raymonds. There, his work paralleled that of other mid-century masters like Hans Wegner and Finn Juhl, who similarly emphasized craft, organic form, and the expressive potential of materials.

The set can be split. The dining chairs can be sold singularly.