1988 George Nakashima Conoid Bench
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GUEST:
In 1986, my wife gave me the book by Nakashima called "The Soul of a Tree." And the philosophy of that book was, if you do something beautiful with a piece of wood, it lives forever. And after reading it, I said to my wife, "I'd like to buy some of his furniture." She says, "You're not buying anything unless I find out it's comfortable or not." So in 1987, Valentine's Day, we went out to New Hope, Pennsylvania, and met George Nakashima. And he sketched out all kinds of furniture that we might be interested in, and we ended up with 12 pieces. And we got them in 1988, and of course, he passed away in 1990. Yeah.
APPRAISER:
Well, you met probably one of the 20th century's finest furniture makers.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
Without a doubt, George Nakashima led the way as far as 20th-century furniture design was concerned. He was a warm, charming man. He had a fascinating life. He himself was an architect, trained at M.I.T. He traveled around the world, all through the 1930s. As you probably know, he was interned during the war.
GUEST:
Right, right.
APPRAISER:
He left the internment camp and came to New Hope, where he started from scratch this furniture business. What you've got here is a conoid bench. And the conoid bench is considered by most collectors to be the finest piece of the finest line that he ever did.
GUEST:
Good.
APPRAISER:
It's a gorgeous piece. The grain is excellent, it's very curvilinear, you have several great things-- you've got knots and curves. Butterflies add value to George Nakashima furniture. You've got a free edge along the front, you've got a free edge along the back. All those details add value to a piece of Nakashima furniture. The other thing that you've got on this piece that I think really adds value is the fact that this piece is signed by George Nakashima. Having it signed by George Nakashima certainly adds value to it in today's present market. However, it's my opinion that in the future, that signature that you have on the bottom will add even more value to it. Whether it's ten percent or 20% or even more, I don't know. Everything that you would want in a piece of Nakashima, this piece has. The walnut is very expressive in this piece, it's just gorgeous. You did a wonderful job of picking this piece out. Do you have any idea as to what this piece might be worth?
GUEST:
Well, I do follow it a bit, and I would guess maybe $20,000.
APPRAISER:
What did you pay for this piece?
GUEST:
All 12 pieces, we paid less than for $12,000, for all 12 pieces. Yeah, yeah. Table, chairs, all of them.
APPRAISER:
Well, I would say, at auction, in today's market, this conoid bench, this wonderful conoid bench, would bring between $35,000 and $45,000.
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
Yes. So in this piece, you've already tripled your money on everything.
GUEST:
I should have bought more.
APPRAISER:
You should have bought more, absolutely true.
GUEST:
1987. (chuckling)
APPRAISER:
Absolutely.
Appraisal Details
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