bertoia slat bench  

......
There are recent knockoffs, I think Pottery Barn made one? Imported approximations are all over the place and everyone on the internet is a liar, etc.
If it's vintage, though, and you believe the bit about coming out of the university, I'd imagine it's probably cool.

Check out the
sad example on this page.
Note the incorrect base, irregular placement of slats, and fake wear (one slat scratched, the next one clear) . . .
http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/5574248

SDR
That one actually actually looks authentic but probably refinished... perhaps the slats became warped from exposure?

could you elaborate on base...
could you elaborate on base being wrong?

SDR
That base design is not incorrect; it's just newer than the one with the overlapped ends.
The slats are misaligned, for sure, but I think that's just due to poor disassembly/reassembly. The screws that hold the slats to the base are thin and not very strong, so it's not uncommon for them to break while they're being extracted -- usually flush with the surface of the wood -- especially if a power screwdriver is used. Instead of drilling out the old screws and gluing plugs into the holes, I bet that the idiot who reassembled the bench just shifted the damaged slats longitudinally and sank new screws into them right next to the broken screws.
The odd wear patterns are probably because the slats weren't reassembled in the same order (and/or the same left-to-right orientation) as before they were disassembled.

thanks again
you've all been a lot of help again. offered $250 sight unseen let's see what happens

when was the switch of bases from overlapping ends to the non overlapped ends made?
this table seems to already have non overlapped ends
https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/tables/coffee-tables-cocktail-tables/r...
So I'm curious if
1/ the story on the linked table is real
2/ before the bench hit production, the 2 bases were already designed. 
 
as always, thank you for sharing your knowledge!