Sharp Edge Noguchi Coffee Table  

We own a current production but I think even vintage ones wouldn't look THAT different. 
It looks very old though. 

I'm not a fan of most glass topped tables but that base looks far superior in form to the ones made now, beautiful shaping. 

I wish Noguchi had designed it like that. I might put such a thing in my house even. 

Not Noguchi but what was considered a look alike back then.  Most "Good Design" icons were copied and altered by others (not necessarily inferior) to reduce production costs and to cut the retail price to less than half.  Retailing at $275-$350 (sounds reasonable today) it is considered expensive to most considering that was one third the cost of a brand new car back then.  The current retail price seems reasonable today.
Even well known names like T.H. Robsjohn Gibbings made a look alike for Widdicomb.  The table was originally conceived as a colaboration with Noguchi but Noguchi's name was conveniently omitted in the credits.  Out of spite, he designed the iconic IN50 table for Herman Miller one of the 20th century design icons that crosses over successfully as part funtional object/part sculpture.
And no the table in question is not a prototype.  See recent thread on the Noguchi designed table for A.Conger Goodyear that is being auctioned for $2M-$3M.  That is a prototype and a one off piece.
If you like the table for what it is and you have a use for it, you should go for it.  Personally, I don't understand why others are only interested in these if it has a pedigree.
Also not being able to examine this piece closely, I would look into the stability of the base when a 3/4" thk (originally 7/8" thk.) heavy piece of plate glass is placed on top of it.

I agree with all the sentiment above: this design seems superior to the current Noguchi coffee table. The surfacing/ sculpting on the legs is much nicer than the slab sides of the current version. However, from a mass production standpoint, the current design must be much easier to produce.
Do you think there is any value in this piece? It is obviously very old, and it does not match any other versions I have found. The newer replacement glass is also a negative.
I really don't have room for this table, I would probably be looking to re-sell if I were to purchase.

Sorry if this is off topic and to those who has heard this story before.
Isamu Noguchi walked in a shop in NYC advertising and selling "Noguchi type" lamps.  Not saying who he was, he approached the shop owner and complained about what he saw.  The shop owner told Noguchi that if he did not like what he has, he should design and sketch one for him.  And Noguchi did hoping to leave a good impression.  The shop owner response to Noguchi was, "sorry that does not look like a Noguchi type lamp."

the noguchi story came from a 1967 book 'isamu noguchi: a sculptor's world' by thames and hudson foreword by bucky fuller
it was also mentioned and footnoted in a 1998 book 'design in the fifties-when everyone went modern' by george marcus for prestel on the subject of look alikes, knock offs and pirated copies of 1950's design icons

Try this coffee table instead.
 
http://blogs.artinfo.com/artintheair/2014/12/18/noguchi-table-sells-for-...

I have to say that the poster's vintage table looks much more like Noguchi's work than does the production table.  Why wouldn't this be a protoype or very early production table ? Until that is settled, I wouldn't let this one go. I note that the curious little wiggle in the pinned lobe of the production model is missing, here. The construction, including brass pin and receptacle, are exemplary, it seems to me.
None of the artist's sculpture is made of slightly altered slab wood or stone; it is fully shaped to a knife or rounded edge (this variance being a part of the formal language he employed).  Of course it is to be expected that a production version, made or approved by him, would be slabbed -- but seeing this table makes us appreciate what was given up for the mass-market version !
(The Goodyear table is yet another animal, a one-off for a specific client. I have previously asked which came first chronologically, the Noguchi coffee table or the Goodyear job.  I'm awaiting an answer from the informed . . .)

To learn more about the work of sculptor Isamu Noguch in detail, contact or visit The Noguchi Foundation/Museum in Queens New York.
This article by Sam Grawe at Herman Miller had been posted here before on one off pieces.
  http://www.designaddict.com/forum/General-discussion/Herman-Miller-castoff-designs
http://www.hermanmiller.com/why/the-other-herman-miller.html

I repeat my assertion that the poster's table is an important if mysterious piece.  The table base didn't achieve its form by accident, nor by the fortunate blundering of a wanna-be designer or knock-off artist.
It's possible that a search through Isamu Noguchi's archive might reveal the origin of this table, along with additional photos. A trace of the  family history of the seller might be productive, as well.

The autobiographical book (bible to most)
Isamu Noguchi:A Sculptor's World by Isamu Noguchi  (1968 by Thames and Hudson) 
is being re-printed and will be available soon (2015)
http://www.noguchi.org/noguchi/more
I just picked up an old first edition copy from the publc library and the book is a wealth of information, text (by the artist himself) photographs of Noguchi's scupltures, sculpture gardens, stage designs (with dancer choreographer Martha Graham), lamps and a couple of pages on the furniture he designed.  The book shows the evolution of the IN50 table for Herman Miller from the prototype table/ancestor of the IN50 that he collaborated with T.H. Robsjohn Gibbings (who later ripped off the design from Noguchi which he re-designed in revenge) to the now famous table for A. Conger Goodyear and many other one off commisions.
It is a must book to read and learn about the works of Isamu Noguchi in his own words.
Reserve a copy or check your local public library catalog for availability.     

Thanks -- you got us really close to the subject table with that description.  The 64-dollar question:  Is there a photo of a prototype that matches Lowe9's table ??
Only with modern CNC equipment could Noguchi's forms be easily replicated. It's no wonder that the production table took the form that it did . . .

Table,no. Some of the smaller sculptures,yes.  The Noguchi Robsjohn Gibbing prototype is actually the opposite of the example posted.  Although very close to the current IN50 design, I will describe the prototype base as Fernando Boteroesque. 
For me, the 64 dollar question is: what is the motivation of the seller who claims that his table is a Noguchi prototype.  Even if the seller is another A.Conger Goodyear , Rockefeller or a Vanderbilt type, I will still ask the question and investigate further the history, authenticity, provenance of the table in question.
If only Noguchi had a CNC machine...
"machines can do the work of a dozen ordinary men, but there is no machine that can do the work of one extrordinary man"