Extremely Important and Unique Chigaidana Cabinet by George Nakashima, March, 1990

60h x 40w x 21d in

This last unique design by George Nakashima can be seen as a self-conscious summary of his career. This historically important chest incorporates elements of George Nakashima's work from the 1930's through the 1980's. It was designed in 1988 and completed and signed on March 28, 1990 - shortly before he died on June 15, 1990. It is a High Chest of Drawers with a Bahut base and Chigaidana opening. 1) His high chest of drawers was originally designed in the 1950's; 2) The modernist base was originally designed in the 1980s for his Bahut; 3) The opening above the drawers is a traditional Japanese form, chigaidana, that was first used by Nakashima in 1960 for a piece in his Widdicomb line; 4) The peeled stick within the the shelves is a reference to his use of the peeled cryptomeria (as well as his similar use of bitter brush in the 1940's) that was used for his first chair design in 1936 - the Karuizawa chair for St. Paul’s Church in Japan. In summary, this unique chest is a redesign of his 1950s high chest of drawers combined with a 1980s modernist base and a traditional Japanese chigaidana (that inspired his 1960 Widdicomb design) in which he employs a reference to his 1938 chair and his 1940's use of bitter brush, by incorporating a peeled stick, 1990.