Nakashima Style Furniture

Throughout his life George Nakashima (1905 - 1990) skilfully produced a unique range of furniture, commonly referred to now as "Nakashima style furniture". George's architectural journey began during his time at the University of Washington where he studied architecture.

After travelling the world for a short period of time Nakashima began work for a well-known architect, Antonin Raymond. During this time the ideas for Nakashima style furniture really began to develop having toured Japan studying Japanese architecture and design extensively.

When Antonin Raymond began a project in India Nakashima gained his first experience in making furniture. Nakashima returned to America transferring these valuable skills where he taught others about the practice of woodworking alongside creating his furniture pieces. Not long after this the Second World War started and Nakashima was enrolled at a camp in Mindoka. During this period Nakashima learned from Gentaro a skilled Japanese carpenter that shared his techniques allowing Nakashima to appreciate the discipline of furniture making even further.

Nakashima practiced the knowledge gained at camp when he returned to work for Antonin Raymond. He was privately commissioned to produce wood furniture that became popular on an international scale.

These gorgeous timeless Nakashima style furniture pieces particularly the large tables with signature butterfly joints are still very popular today with his unmistakable designs often found in museums, galleries and homes across the world. These unmistakable furniture pieces have had a profound influence on many furniture pieces created today. At Hawkins Furniture we stock an array of intricate furniture pieces in our Nakashima style furniture range all of which have been inspired by the innovative designs created by respected furniture maker George Nakashima.