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Conoid Chair

Object Details

Exhibition Label
There is drama in the opening of a log--to uncover for the first time the beauty in the bole, or trunk, of a tree hidden for centuries, waiting to be given this second life. -- George Nakashima
Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery, 2019
Luce Center Label
Conoid Chair was built from a slab of walnut cantilevered over two legs that George Nakashima designed to make the chair movable on carpeting. The chair was named after Nakashima's studio in New Hope, Pennsylvania, which was modeled on the section of a cone. The thin hickory spindles rising up to support a gently arced cross-member evoke the elegant window walls of the studio, and recall the colonial tradition of simple, functional spindle-back chairs.
Luce Object Quote
"It is an art and a soul-satisfying adventure to walk the forests of the world, to commune with trees, to take them when mature or even dead and . . . to bring this living material to the work bench, ultimately to give it a second life." George Nakashima, Woodworker, 1984
Data Source
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Artist
George Nakashima, born Spokane, WA 1905-died New Hope, PA 1990
Date
1971
Credit Line
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Lloyd E. Herman, founding director and director emeritus of the Renwick Gallery (1971-1986)
Medium
black walnut and hickory
Dimensions
35 3/8 x 20 5/8 x 18 3/4 in. (89.8 x 52.5 x 47.6 cm)
Type
Decorative Arts-Furniture
Crafts

Featured In

  • Asian American Artists and Selected Works
  • Consider the Chair
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