George & Mira Nakashima Chairs & Table
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GUEST:
The chairs are actually from my parents, who bought them in the '70s. They bought two of the armchairs and four of the regular chairs, but never got a table. We went up to the workshop with them when we were kids, and I was very impressed with the workshop. So when I grew up, I knew I wanted to buy a Nakashima table. And so 20 years later, I was able to do that. And so the table is from 1990 or so.
APPRAISER:
Uh-huh.
GUEST:
And the chairs are from the ‘70s.
APPRAISER:
Right, right.
GUEST:
Part of the process of buying from them is going out and picking out your wood. Mira will put water on it so you can see the grain.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.
GUEST:
It's really terrific.
APPRAISER:
So George dies in 1990.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And his daughter Mira Nakashima continues to run the business.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
They're both signed pieces.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And the chair has got a great George Nakashima signature on it. Then, of course, the table is, is signed with, with Mira, and also dated. So we've got a spectacular piece of American black walnut, and that was one of the very important things to George, is, is finding this indigenous wood.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
So great graining on it. And then the, the chairs, of course, are traditional. These are hickory stiles.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
With walnut crest rails.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
There's also a lovely conversation going on here, because of the fact that we've got an example of Mira the daughter and George the father in these.
GUEST:
The father, yes.
APPRAISER:
The table itself is a design very similar to what George Nakashima would have done.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
'Cause Mira is working in, from her father's influence.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
But there are, there are subtle differences. This is called a conoid table.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
And the table was named after the studio. Which, fascinatingly, is this, National Historic Register of Historic Places.
GUEST:
Oh, really? Okay.
APPRAISER:
Yes, he is a national treasure.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And as is the area in Solebury County and New Hope, Pennsylvania.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
There's a difference that I see when I look at this Mira piece, and she has put in six of these dovetailed butterfly inlays here.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
It's more than I would expect to see on a George piece.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
She has free edges on both sides.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Here, which is another of his aesthetics. He loved wood, and wanted the wood to speak.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
When we compare this with the chairs...
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
You've got six chairs altogether, two arms, four sides. He's working off of a Windsor aesthetic. You can see the way he's made them carefully along the top, with these dowels coming through.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm, right.
APPRAISER:
This is called the new chair.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
This is the, the name of the chair--and he named them after clients when he first made them.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And he, so you bought this recently. What did you pay for the...
GUEST:
I paid for the table, I think it was $5,000.
APPRAISER:
$5,000. Were this by George, we would be looking at probably a $25,000 to $35,000 estimate for auction. But because it's Mira, her market has not really come into the secondary market quite yet.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
I would say that this is probably more in the $8,000 to $12,000 range, if you were to, to purchase this at auction.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
The chairs-- do you know what your parents paid for those in the '70s?
GUEST:
Oh, I think my, I think it was... My mother said, like, $150 for the, uh, the armchair.
APPRAISER:
The arm?
GUEST:
Right. And these were $100, something along those lines.
APPRAISER:
Right, right, so now these side chairs...
GUEST:
Yes. ...
APPRAISER:
will be bringing around $2,000 apiece, where the armchairs are probably in the $3,000 apiece range.
GUEST:
Wow.
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