A Brief History of George Nakashima

George Nakashima was born in 1905 in Spokane, Washington and is widely considered one of the top furniture designers and maker of the 20th Century. After attending the University of Washington and later receiving a Masters degree from M.I.T., Nakashima traveled to France and later to Japan. It was there that he met Antonin Raymond, who is well known for his collaborations with Frank Lloyd Wright and under his tutelage became engaged in the study of Japanese design. After returning to the U.S. in 1940 however, Nakashima’s life took a detour when during World War II, he was put in a Japanese internment camp.

Some would argue that the detour in the camp was not all bad, as this is where Nakashima was first introduced to making furniture and where his passion grew full fledged. While in the camp he studied the art of making furniture with traditional Japanese tools and the techniques used by the grand masters. In 1943, Antonin Raymond came into his life again, he was released from the camp and moved to New Hope, Pennsylvania where he opened his first studio. Nakashima was one of the finest craftsmen of his time and today his works go at auction for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Although he passed away, his work continues through his daughter, Mira Nakashima-Yarnall, who now runs the studio, still situated in New Hope.

Premiums From Larkin Soap Co. Now Antiques

Recently, while surfing on the Internet for interesting stories, I came upon some questions from readers asking about the worth of possible antiques. One question was about a music stand and another was about a rocking chair. In both instances there was a paper attached to these items that mentioned the Larkin Company of Buffalo, New York. Being originally from Buffalo, New York, this intrigued me and so I started doing some digging on Larkin.

It turns out; The Larkin Soap Company was founded in Buffalo, New York in 1875. The company was started by John D. Larkin, Elbert Hubbard and Darwin D. Martin. It started out as a soap company but in the early 1900’s it expanded to produce many other home products including furniture and even later they became pioneers in the mail order business. What is interesting to note about this company is that they were also pioneers in the marketing field. Items such as music stands and rocking chairs as well as other furniture were given away as premiums for product loyalty. This type of marketing became much more prominent during the Great Depression when other soap companies started putting Depression Glass into their soap boxes as incentives to buy and to maintain product loyalty.

Another interesting note about the Larkin Company was that the Larkin Building was built by none other than Frank Lloyd Wright in 1904. However after the Great Depression, the Larkin Company’s sales declined and they were forced into bankruptcy. The building was foreclosed on in 1945 and later sold in 1949. Sadly, in 1950 the building was demolished to make way for a parking lot of all things. Pictured is a chair designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Larkin Building.