Conoid Slab Cocktail Table
Manufactured by George Nakashima Woodworkers
New Hope, Pennsylvania, USA, 1990s
Black walnut and rosewood
Measurements
116,8 × 95,3 × 33h cm
46 × 37,5 × 13h in
Details
Signed and dated to the underside: “Mira Nakashima 4-18-00”
Inscribed with the client's name: “Loveland”
Single-slab top with free edges, sapwood, knot details and rosewood butterfly joint.
Accompanied by a digital copy of the original receipt.
Provenance
Private Collection, USA
Literature
Mira Nakashima, Nature, Form & Spirit: The Life and Legacy of George Nakashima, Harry N. Abrams, New York, 2003.
George Nakashima, The Soul of a Tree: A Master Woodworker's Reflections, Kodansha International, Tokyo, 1981.
About
Created in 2000, the Conoid Slab Cocktail Table exemplifies Mira Nakashima’s continuation and evolution of the woodworking philosophy established by her father, George Nakashima. Crafted from a single slab of black walnut, the table celebrates the individual character of the tree through its free edges, expressive sapwood, and naturally occurring knots and variations.
Rather than concealing these irregularities, Nakashima incorporates them as essential elements of the composition. A delicate rosewood butterfly joint stabilizes the slab while simultaneously providing a subtle visual accent, continuing one of the most recognizable construction techniques associated with the Nakashima workshop. The contrast between the dark walnut and rosewood emphasizes the handcrafted character of the piece without detracting from the natural grain of the tabletop.
The table belongs to the Conoid tradition developed at the Nakashima studio in New Hope, in which sculptural timber surfaces are combined with restrained, architecturally conceived bases. Signed and dated by Mira Nakashima and inscribed with the original client's name, this example retains a particularly clear record of its production and provenance.
Biography
Mira Nakashima (b. 1942) is an American architect, designer, and master woodworker who has directed George Nakashima Woodworkers since her father's death in 1990. Born in Seattle during the wartime incarceration of her Japanese-American family, she grew up in New Hope, Pennsylvania, surrounded by the architecture, furniture, and woodworking practice developed by George Nakashima.
She studied architecture at Harvard University and later received a master's degree in architecture from Waseda University in Tokyo, where she also developed a deeper understanding of Japanese architectural and craft traditions. After returning to the United States, she joined her father's studio and worked alongside him for many years.
Following George Nakashima's death, Mira assumed responsibility for the New Hope workshop, preserving its established designs and woodworking methods while developing furniture under her own name. Her work continues the studio's commitment to solid timber, free edges, butterfly joints, and careful attention to the individual character of each tree, while introducing her own approach to proportion and composition.
Through her leadership of George Nakashima Woodworkers, Mira Nakashima has played a central role in preserving and extending one of the most influential legacies in American studio furniture.
