A designer and sculptor, Paul Evans was a wild card of late 20th century modernism. A leading light of the American Studio Furniture movement, Evans’s sideboards, credenzas, coffee tables and other work manifests a singular aesthetic sense, as well as a seemingly contradictory appreciation for both folk art forms and for new materials and technologies.
Evans’s primary material was metal, not wood, which was favored by his fellow studio designers, and Bucks County, Pennsylvania, neighbors George Nakashima and Phillip Lloyd Powell. He trained in metallurgy and studied at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, the famed crucible of modern design and art in suburban Detroit. For a time early in his career, Evans also worked at Sturbridge Village, a historical “living museum” in Massachusetts, where he gave demonstrations as a costumed silversmith.
Evans’s earliest work unites these influences. The pieces that made his reputation are known as “sculpted-front” cabinets: wood cases faced with box-like high-relief patinated steel mounts laid out in a grid pattern. Each mount contains a metal emblem, or glyph, and the effect is that of a brawny quilt.
Evans’s later work falls into three distinct style groups. His sculpted-bronze pieces, begun in the mid-1960s, show Evans at his most expressive. He employed a technique in which resin is hand-shaped, and later sprayed with a metal coating, allowing for artistic nuance in the making of chairs, tables and case pieces. Later in the decade and into the 1970s, Evans produced his Argente series for celebrated manufacturer Directional (a brand known to vintage mid-century modern furniture collectors everywhere): consoles and other furniture forms that feature aluminum and pigment-infused metal surfaces welded into abstract organic forms and patterns.
Last, Evans's Cityscape design series — a milestone in the history of brutalist design — meshed perfectly with the sleek, “high tech” sensibility of the later ’70s. Evans constructed boxy forms and faced them with irregular mosaic patterns that mixed rectangular plaques of chromed steel, bronze or burlwood veneer. These, like all of Paul Evans’s designs, are both useful and eye-catching. But their appeal has another, more visceral quality: these pieces have clearly been touched by an artist’s hand.
Find a collection of authentic Paul Evans furniture today on 1stDibs.
Paul Evans for Directional "Cityscape" Chrome and Brass Ice Bucket, 1970's
By Paul Evans, Directional
Located in Bainbridge, NY
Paul Evans for Directional Furniture Cityscape Series gold and chrome mirror ice bucket with thermos liner. Featuring a square hinged brass and chrom...
Brass, Chrome
Paul Evans Directional Cityscape Ice Bucket, Brass, Chrome, Glass, USA, 1970s
By Paul Evans, Directional
Located in New York, NY
Paul Evans for Directional ice bucket, USA, 1970s. Cube form brass and chrome patchwork ice bucket with hinged lid, from Evans' Cityscape series for Directional Furniture. Glass inte...
Brass, Chrome
Aldo Tura Faux Malachite Ice Bucket with Brass Rings, Italy, 1970s
By Aldo Tura
Located in New York, NY
Aldo Tura faux malachite ice bucket with brass rings and brass rim detail under lid, Italy, 1970s. This stylish malachite ice bucket is well-made ...
Brass
$575
H 9.25 in W 8.25 in D 8.25 in
Mid-Century Italian Burlwood Ice Bucket with Chrome Trim, Ca. 1970s
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Mid-century modern Italian burlwood ice bucket with chrome trim. Wonderful addition to any bar.
Burl
$968
H 8.67 in W 8.86 in D 8.86 in
Midcentury Ice Bucket Lucite Ice effect & Chrome Willy Rizzo Style, Italy 1970s
By Willy Rizzo
Located in Rome, IT
Midcentury amazing cube ice bucket in lucite ice effect and chrome in the style of the Italian designer Willy Rizzo. Made in Italy in the 1970s.
Metal, Chrome
Swiss Freddotherm Gold Ice Bucket, 1970s
Located in Hamburg, DE
This decorative vintage ice bucket by Freddotherm, Switzerland, dates from the 1960s–1970s and is a charming example of mid-century barware with a distinctly glamorous character. Des...
Plastic
$525
H 10 in W 8.38 in D 8.38 in
MCM Vintage Chrome & Brass Campaign Chest, Tuck Trunk Bar Ice Bucket, 1970s
By Gucci
Located in St. Louis, MO
Uncommon 1970s vintage Ice Bucket for the bar, fabricated in the style of a campaign chest, tuck trunk in chrome with brass handles , Excelsior USA buckles, with removable plastic li...
Brass, Chrome
$352Sale Price|20% Off
H 13 in W 8.5 in D 7.75 in
1970's Mid Century Modern "United Solid Brass Co." Chrome & Glass Ice Bucket
Located in Opa Locka, FL
1970's Mid Century Modern United Solid Brass Company Ice Bucket. Glass liner. Chrome bucket decorated.
Metal
$284 / item
H 7.09 in W 7.49 in D 7.49 in
Pair of Signed Guzzini Midcentury Italian Lucite and Chrome Ice Buckets, 1970s
By Fratelli Guzzini, Guzzini
Located in Roma, IT
Pair of signed Lucite ice buckets with a removable interior bowl for better cooling and easy cleaning. The ice buckets have a modern edgy and fashionable chrome handle for easy mano...
Chrome
$320
H 11 in W 6 in D 4.5 in
Mid-Century Modern Glass Ice Bucket with Leatherette Cover, Germany, 1970s
Located in Nuernberg, DE
A nice barware item from Germany, 1970s. An all original Mid-Century Modern item to display in your bar or just on a cupboard with your ice cubes. M...
Faux Leather, Glass
$1,082
H 9.06 in W 9.06 in D 9.06 in
Midcentury Lucite, Wicker & Chrome Ice Bucket Christian Dior Style, Italy 1970s
By Christian Dior
Located in Rome, IT
Midcentury amazing ice bucket in lucite, wicker and chrome in the style of Christian Dior Home. Made in Italy in the 1970s. Great accessory for any modern interior.
Metal, Chrome
Alessandro Albrizzi Acrylic Ice Bucket, Italy, 1970s
By Alessandro Albrizzi
Located in Munich, DE
Elegant acrylic ice bucket or box designed by Alessandro Albrizzi for Bella Modern, Italy, 1970s.
Acrylic
Mid Century Brown and Brass Ice Bucket
By Kraftware
Located in Oklahoma City, OK
Elevate your bar game, with this mid-century brown and brass ice bucket. With a brass lid, and handle, this piece exudes both form and function. Measures: 8" diameter 7.5" tall.
Brass
Vintage Italian Brass and Lucite Ice Bucket
Located in North Miami, FL
Exquisite polished brass and Lucite handle ice bucket. Very chic!
Brass
Antonio Botta Ice Bucket or Decorative Box in Lucite and Chrome, Italy, 1970s
By Felice Antonio Botta, Rexite
Located in Roma, IT
Wonderful Italian decorative box or ice bucket made in smoked lucite and chrome. This incredibly stylish and rare piece was designed by Antonio Botta and produced by Rexite in Italy ...
Chrome
$280Sale Price|20% Off
H 7 in W 5 in D 5 in
1970s Modern Square Glass Ice Bucket Style of Cristal de Sèvres
By Cristalleries De Sevres
Located in Chula Vista, CA
Crystal Glass Ice Bucket Silver Plate Handle Square shape with curve around edges. Clean modern lines Unmarked. Attributed design style Cristal de Sèvres 10.25 to top, 7 h to glass ...
Silver Plate
Aldo Tura Italian Round Ice Bucket in Chrome, Italy 1970s
By Macabo, Aldo Tura
Located in Roma, IT
Stunning mid-century chrome metal ice bucket. This elegant piece was designed by Aldo Tura for Macabo in Italy in the 1970s. In amazing condition. This stylish round ice bucket has ...
Silver Plate, Chrome
Paul Evans, Metal Ice Bucket, circa 1970
By Paul Evans
Located in Wargrave, Berkshire
Brutalist 'patchwork' ice bucket, circa 1970, by Paul Evans. Constructed from patinated and hammered metals riveted over a plywood frame, with hinged lid and white plastic liner. 2...
Copper, Steel
Paul Evans Ice Bucket, Cityscape Patchwork, Brass Chrome
By Paul Evans
Located in New York, NY
Paul Evans ice bucket cityscape brass chrome patchwork. Rare bar accessory from Evans' iconic Cityscape series with brass and chromed steel patch...
Steel
Sold
H 9 in W 10 in D 10 in
Paul Evans Ice Box Executed in Hand Worked Copper Plates with Solder Splashes
By Paul Evans
Located in Stamford, CT
A Paul Evans ice box. Executed in hand worked copper plates with solder splashed Brutalist design. Purchased from a New Hope home.
Copper
Paul Evans, Cityscape Ice Bucket, USA, 1970s
By Paul Evans
Located in New York, NY
A rare ice bucket made in Paul Evans’ signature Cityscape style. With its polished chrome and gold mirrored geometric parts, Evans’ Cityscape series epitomizes the era in which it wa...
A Paul Evans Cityscape Ice Bucket, USA, circa 1970s
By Paul Evans
Located in New York, NY
A rare Cityscape Ice Bucket in Chrome and Gold designed and made by Paul Evans studio in the 1970s. The bucket in mint condition features an interior mirrored bowl mounted in a substantial box covered in classic Evans mirror gold and silver...