Underside
Herman Miller / Vitra, from 1948

Noguchi coffee table IN50: real or reproduction

A genuine one typically changes hands at €1,600, and a good reproduction sells for €250 to €600. That gap is why you turn the piece over before you pay.

Below is the whole checklist we run on this model, 5 markers, written so you could run it by hand. Send your photos and we read the most decisive one free.

The markers that decide it

  1. 01

    etched signature

    Authorised tops carry an etched or acid-marked signature, and later Vitra and Herman Miller tops show the maker name near an edge. The mark is shallow and slightly frosted. No mark at all on a table sold as authentic must be explained.

  2. 02

    glass shape and thickness

    The top is a specific freeform triangle in thick plate glass with a polished bevel and two flat resting points on the legs. Copies use thinner glass, a rounder outline, and a sharp unpolished edge.

  3. 03

    leg interlock

    Two identical solid wood pieces interlock with a pivot pin and stand without hardware. Copies use veneered board, a screwed pivot, or legs that must be forced together.

  4. 04

    wood and finish

    Solid walnut, ebonised birch or cherry with continuous grain around the curve. Printed grain, a visible core at the edge, or a plastic-feeling lacquer are copies.

  5. 05

    patina

    An old top shows fine surface scratches from use and the leg tops show pressure marks where the glass rests. A pristine top on an aged base means a replacement glass.

This is an evidenced opinion read from photographs, never a certificate. A photograph cannot tell us what the piece weighs or how it sounds, and every report names what we could not check.

What one is worth

range as of September 2026

low
€900
typical
€1,600
high
€3,000
good reproduction
€250 to €600

Read from public results on Catawiki, LiveAuctioneers, Pamono, 1stDibs and Whoppah, for a piece in honest used condition. Condition, provenance and finish move it.

Check the one you are looking at

free · no account · Noguchi coffee table IN50
step one

Take these shots

These are the shots that decide this model. Fill the frame, hold still, and use even light.

  1. 01the underside of the glass at one corner, showing any etched mark
  2. 02the two wooden legs where they interlock, close
  3. 03the whole table from above
  4. 04the glass edge, close, showing the bevel and the thickness
step two

Upload your photos

Up to six photos, taken by you, of the piece itself. Renders, generated images, screenshots and catalogue crops are refused: we cannot tie them to an object. They stay on your case page and nowhere else. No account, and the first read costs nothing.

Add at least one photo. The plate under the seat matters most.

no account · no subscription · one payment for one report

Other checklists

the whole catalogue