Rare Bookends by Paul Evans and Phillip Lloyd Powell, 1960s
View Similar Items
Rare Bookends by Paul Evans and Phillip Lloyd Powell, 1960s
About the Item
- Creator:Phillip Lloyd Powell (Designer),Paul Evans (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 6 in (15.24 cm)Width: 4 in (10.16 cm)Depth: 3 in (7.62 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (In the Style Of)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU108406107113
Phillip Lloyd Powell
An American woodworker known for a wide range of furniture that is sensuous, sculptural and imbued with character, Phillip Lloyd Powell is an iconic figure in design. His organic style transcended the conventions of popular mid-century modern furniture and is best reflected in the vintage cabinets and tables for which he is renowned.
“I am an artist working with furniture,” Powell once said. But the self-taught furniture maker wore a number of different hats throughout his lifetime. He crafted handmade furniture as a teenager at his boyhood home and went on to study engineering at what is now Drexel University. Powell served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, and, on his return, he established his first showroom in New Hope, in his home state of Pennsylvania, stocking furniture from Knoll, Herman Miller and Isamu Noguchi.
In New Hope, Powell encountered fellow furniture designers Paul Evans and George Nakashima. The latter, a master woodworker who preferred a personal approach to design over industrial methods and materials, encouraged Powell to concentrate on making his own furniture. When Powell did so, he’d experiment with Nakashima’s unused stock of wood, drawing on natural world forms for seating and shapely coffee tables.
Evans, who moved to New Hope in 1955, was invited to share Powell’s studio space. Powell’s furniture design practice really took off and a collaboration with Evans put into motion the 1960s American Studio Craft Movement, which came to include furniture designers Wharton Esherick and Sam Maloof. The decade-long partnership between Evans and Powell yielded stone-topped tables, walnut chests with sculptured metal exteriors and more.
Powell was inspired by Evans’s artistry as a jewelry designer — he was a skilled welder whose Cityscape pieces are milestones of brutalism. Powell, in turn, encouraged him to turn his sculptures into furniture. Like Evans, Powell incorporated a range of materials into his work, rendering the interiors of his hand-carved cabinets alluring and distinctive with applications of silver leaf and fabrics.
The sinewy arms of Powell’s famous New Hope lounge chair are representative of his broad expertise with wood and his ability to make graceful yet functional furniture. He worked slowly, and the influence of the natural world remained a driving force in his designs. Powell produced approximately 1,000 pieces while he lived and worked in New Hope until his death in 2008.
Find vintage Phillip Lloyd Powell furniture on 1stDibs.
Paul Evans
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.
- ASTER Brass and Enamel Chandelier by Blueprint Lighting, 2017By Arteluce, Arredoluce, Robert SonnemanLocated in New York, NYASTER: a chic, simple brass chandelier with enameled spun aluminum orbs by Blue Print Lighting, 2017. This design is an Italian Modern classic with characteristics of both Mid-Centur...Category
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass, Bronze, Copper, Enamel, Chrome, Nickel, Aluminum
- Massive 3-Tier MONOLITH Enamel and Brass Chandelier by Blueprint Lighting, 2016By Arteluce, Gino Sarfatti, StilnovoLocated in New York, NYOur massive handcrafted 3-Tier Monolith chandelier is a dramatically scaled version of our wildly successful Monolith. This commanding statement pi...Category
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsGold, Brass, Enamel, Chrome, Nickel
- Large "POP" Wall Sconce in Brass and Mauve Enamel by Blueprint LightingBy Blueprint LightingLocated in New York, NYEnamel color may be specified with no additional lead time in most cases. Our standard enamel colors are shown in the final images-there is no additional lead time or cost for these colors. Frame patina may be specified, but may impact lead time slightly. The dramatic "POP" wall sconce in brushed brass and mauve enamel fabricated in NYC by Blueprint Lighting, 2019. This design is strongly influenced by both French and Italian Mid-Century Modernism and is a perfect POP of color and bold design. Striking design scaled to work well flanking a doorway in a foyer, behind a bar, around a breakfast nook, or as a luxe addition to a master suite, nursery or glam room...Category
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsAluminum, Brass, Bronze, Enamel, Chrome, Nickel
- Large "POP" Wall Sconce in Bronze and Black Enamel by Blueprint LightingBy Blueprint LightingLocated in New York, NYEnamel color may be specified with no additional lead time in most cases. Our standard enamel colors are shown in the final images-there is no additional lead time or cost for these colors. Frame patina may be specified, but may impact lead time slightly. The dramatic "POP" wall sconce in bronze and black enamel fabricated in NYC by Blueprint Lighting, 2019. This design is strongly influenced by both French and Italian Mid-Century Modernism and is a perfect POP of color and bold design. Striking design scaled to work well flanking a doorway in a foyer, behind a bar, around a breakfast nook, or as a luxe addition to a master suite, nursery or glam room...Category
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsAluminum, Brass, Bronze, Enamel, Chrome, Nickel
- Magari Adjustable Wall Lamp in Bronze, White and Brass by Blueprint LightingBy Stilnovo, Gino Sarfatti, Blueprint LightingLocated in New York, NYThe Magari wall lamp or reading light is handmade to order by Blueprint Lighting. Magari is adjustable to suit your needs: there are two articulating ...Category
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsNickel, Aluminum, Brass, Bronze, Enamel
- Auguri Adjustable Wall Lamp in Glass and Brass Made by Blueprint LightingBy Stilnovo, Gino Sarfatti, Blueprint LightingLocated in New York, NYThe Auguri wall lamp or reading light is handmade to order by Blueprint Lighting. Auguri is adjustable to suit your needs with it's two articulating j...Category
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsAluminum, Brass, Bronze, Enamel, Nickel
- Phillip Lloyd Powell Custom ScreenBy Phillip Lloyd PowellLocated in Houston, TXPhillip Lloyd Powell screen USA, c. 1965 American black walnut, glass, brass 96 w × 1.75 d × 95.5 h inches Large four-panel custom screen by Phil...Category
Mid-20th Century North American Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Divi...
MaterialsGlass, Walnut
- Paul Evans & Phillip Lloyd Powell Lighter for Designers Inc. USA, 1960'sBy Phillip Lloyd Powell, Paul EvansLocated in Costa Mesa, CAPaul Evans & Phillip Lloyd Powell Lighter for Designers Inc. USA, 1960's. Signed with the makers mark to the bottom.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Tobacco Accessories
MaterialsPewter
$760 Sale Price20% Off - Pair of Silvered Leaf Carved Wood Folding Screen by Philip Lloyd PowellBy Phillip Lloyd PowellLocated in Montreal, QCPhillip Lloyd Powell (1919-2008). Pair of silvered leaf carved wood folding " Fantasy" screen by Philip Lloyd Powell, inset with mirror plates , the back fitted with black felt linin...Category
Vintage 1960s American Screens and Room Dividers
MaterialsWood
- Paul Evans Style Cityscape Mixed Metal Patchwork ChestBy Maitland Smith, Paul EvansLocated in Houston, TXPaul Evans style cityscape mixed metal patchwork chest. Handsome Paul Evans style cityscape mixed metal patchwork chest, box, coffer or document box. ...Category
Vintage 1970s North American Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
MaterialsMetal
- Phillip Lloyd Powell Craft Movement Adjustable Walnut Music Stand, EaselBy Phillip Lloyd PowellLocated in Bainbridge, NYAmerican New Hope School adjustable music stand, easel attributed Phillip Lloyd Powell, circa 1970. Featuring a smooth Walnut framework, handcrafted dovetail joints and functional br...Category
Vintage 1970s American American Craftsman Music Stands
MaterialsBrass
- A Large Brutalist Iron and Desert Glass Sculpture Screen Paul Evans StyleBy Paul EvansLocated in Lambertville, NJA striking brutalist hand forged and welded wrought iron and dessert glass sculpture screen in the manner of Paul Evans. Good original condition, from...Category
Vintage 1970s American Brutalist Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsWrought Iron