Vintage view: George Nakashima's furniture

Kya deLongchamps explores the gentle genius of George Nakashima, one of the leading lights of American Studio furniture.

THERE’S a sliver of tension in a great piece of furniture. It’s strung like a musical instrument, set in perpetual balance by its maker. Inhabiting the space between art and utility, it asks more of us than ‘it will do’.

Rustic meets refined is a favourite joust for carpenters, and it’s a meeting of the natural and nurtured that’s famously difficult to bring home.