Hmmm....I Was Really Hoping That This Was A George Nakashima "Minguren" Coffee Table, But There Are A Few Details That Have Cooled My Jets. Still, Either Way It's A Killer Piece. Status: Unknown.

I saw this table pop up on the Kansas City craigslist a while back and got kinda wound up about it, but it being a three plus hour drive away...that was about it.  A little winding up.  Then it popped up again this morning at just the right time and the die was cast.  I contacted the seller and was on the highway.

Why did I drive three and a half hours each way for this coffee table?  Well, besides it being a lovely

hand crafted walnut cantilevered table, I thought it might be a genuine George Nakashima piece.

Nakashima coffee tables can fetch upwards of $40,000.  Of course, those particular pieces always are

perfectly preserved examples with impeccable provenance.  This table, if it happened to be a

Nakashima, would neither be perfectly preserved (it's kind of a mess and has a nasty shiny

polyurethane refinish on the top) nor will "I got it off craigslist from a guy in KC" suffice as 

impeccable provenance.

Sadly, as beautiful as those butterfly joints are...they aren't the right shape or design for George

Nakashima.  ::sigh::  Still, they are beautiful and nicely done.  And what is that scribbling on the

bottom?  Looks like it says: "Tracks To GM A&J" or something to that effect.

Another sad note, the dismal repairs done to this lovely table.  Who thought it'd be a good idea to

screw these L brackets to the outrigger legs?  What a pain it the ass it would be to restore this if it

happened to be a genuine article.  Also someone drilled a bunch of holes and put screws in from the

bottom to secure the outrigger and one kinda came out the side as you can see just above the

outrigger.  Sad...that's all, just sad.

Of course, if this were to be found a real George Nakashima, all the issues would easily be fixed...

with enough money thrown at the problem.  I have my serious doubts, but I'll still send George

Nakashima Woodworkers an e-mail with a couple pics to find out for sure.  Ya never know...and it's a

good idea to be sure.  So many other details say "Yes" and I don't want to have another sob story like

my Adrian Persall sofa.  Oh, and you might remember this parking lot from a post a couple years ago!