Last night I was at a dear friend's for bridge, (OK, that's enough), and one of the "girls" tripped and fell directly on top of the hostess' Noguchi IN-50 original table and smashed the glass top to bits. When the glass crashed, it scratched the lacquer on the base in a number of places, some quite deeply.
Needless to say, my friend is devastated as that table has been in her family since the 40's. My question is this, since saving that particular table is most important to her, what is the best way to accomplish that? My suggestion to her was to buy another 1944 IN-50 from Wright's with the original signed green glass top and have her original base restored and relacquered.
I told her I would put the question to the DA's and get suggestions. Incidently, the table is insured and, even if it wasn't, they can afford whatever it takes to replace the table.
Help, please.
I'm quite sure
that any reputable glass company in your town or city can cut a new piece of glass, assuming you have the exact dimensions (and show 'em a photograph).
People sell quite valuable tables on eBay all the time without the glass 'cause shipping the heavy glass (especially when it's not in perfect condition) can cost a fortune to ship.
I'm quite sure your friend can get glass with the same green edge, the same thickness, and the same overall look.
Replacing the glass is nowhere as critical as replacing the base.
Also, it's probably possible to get new glass that's substantually stronger than the original glass.
I'd first try your best auto glass company in town.
Forget about if Herman Miller etched Noguchi's name
on the table glass or not. Get the measurements as well as a clear photograph of the glass's shape and contact your local glass company.
Make sure you know the proper thickness, and tell them that the glass must be clear with a green ground edge.
They might very well have a type of safety glass that's more scratch and break resistant than any glass you could obtain directly from Herman Miller!
If the glass were square, or circular, it'd be simple.
But, it isn't easy to communicate to a glazier (let alone an auto glass repair shop!) the shape to be cut.
Do you know anyone who owns one of these, who might agree to trace the shape onto brown paper, to give to a glazier?
Buying a replacement glass top from Herman Miller seems the more sensible move.
I gotta side
with that approach. This is an unusual piece of glass -- more like a vase than a top, all things considered -- and Riki had it right from the top.
(There is really no such thing as "green-edge" glass. The "green edge" is simply the result of a certain degree of tint in the glass. The thicker the glass, the more edge there is to see, AND the more the glass reads green. )
The shape, edge-grind and possible signature are all reasons to just get it from HM, in my opinion, particularly as the table apparently has a sentimental value for these owners.
Buy vintage
I hate to disagree with everyone here (I don't post much) but...the original glass is very unique on a vintage piece: no signiture, very distinct light green edge that cannot be found (new glass has a much darker edge)and a new piece from Herman Miller would likely be close to what a vintage table would cost in this current depressed vintage market.
I would wait and purchase a vintage table with the older glass, take the original base and have it framed or hang on the wall or make a mobile out of it. It would make an excellent conversation piece and generate a lot of laughs over the years retelling the story of "one drunken night"...
Tempered glass
I believe that glass tabletops are required by law these days to be tempered glass (the kind that breaks into tiny chunks instead of big shards). Not that the police are going to storm the house and confiscate the table if it has a regular plate glass top, but there's a reason for the law.
If someone broke the top once, it could happen again. While it would certainly be best from a collector's point of view to get another original top, I personally wouldn't want that kind of safety hazard in my house.
We DID have that kind of safety hazard in our house, though we didn't realize it until after the fact. Our 18-year-old daughter ran through a sliding glass door in a 50s house that we'd just bought. (She was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs, in case anyone is thinking of cracking a joke.) Fortunately, she didn't sever any major blood vessels or nerves, but it did take four hours and 100 stitches, and a plastic surgeon to repair the damage. She has minor permanent nerve damage (can't flex one foot completely and has a numb area on the skin of her knee). She was very, very lucky.
I'd get a template of the Noguchi top and have a new one made of tempered glass and be happy not to have to worry about anyone getting hurt by it. People are more important than a tabletop. Noguchi certainly would have used tempered glass if it was required at the time.
Herman Miller
If you can get a new top from Herman Miller, it will be tempered glass.
And what SDR said about there being no such thing as a "green edge" to the glass. All clear glass actually has a slight green color. You can get glass with no color at all but it is made by a special process or from stuff other than what regular glass is made of (I forget which).
Gosh...all of these details about a glass coffee table
makes me not want to have one in the house!
Someday, I will replace my knockoff ebony George Nelson slat bench I'm using as a coffee table. I continue to look around for one that's oval or round, but I'm no longer excited about buying one with a glass top. Perhaps marble, instead.
Although
I'm glad that regulations now require tempered glass, a piece of 3/4" plate glass is very hard to break in ordinary circumstances, unless the surface is first scored. I don't consider a vintage Noguchi table to be a hazard.
If the table in question was placed on a concrete floor, and the top was pushed until it slid off the base and struck the floor, I could understand it's breaking. This was a freak accident, I'd say. But it did happen.
If the vintage top appears to have a lighter-green edge, I'd assume that means the glass is closer to the water-clear material mentioned by Spanky, which has a very low iron content.
i have the Noguchi from He...
i have the Noguchi from Herman Miller and it has his name etched in the glass. I talk to Herman miller and they said they started that around 2000 they use to use a metal tag and still do on the bottom. but with so many knockoffs they wanted the customer to know this was the real Herman miller and etched Noguchi name on the glass,
To me glass is glass
I would find some knock off for cheap and just use the glass you might be dollars ahead and still have a original Herman Miller with new glass. I had a wonderful coffee table made for my daughter new apartment made of metal and aluminum and the thick glass alone cost me 400.00 3/4 thick and tempered
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