Stunning Paul McCobb for Widdicomb Symmetric Armchair, Classic Modernist

The 1962 Symmetric Group sofa borrows from the simplicity of New England furniture traditions and infuses this heritage with a playful modernism. Boston-born designer Paul McCobb (1917–69) was inspired by the solid craftsmanship of Shaker and Windsor furniture as well as the needs of mid-century living. Designed for Widdicomb Furniture Company, the high-backed Symmetric Group sofa could add a note of elegance to a middle-class home, balancing its bulky body of swooping arms and ribbed details with the slender, wooden legs.

After studying at Boston’s Vesper George School of Art and serving in the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II, McCobb relocated to New York City and worked as a consultant with Modernage Furniture. He also opened his own firm, Paul McCobb Associates. His first line to go into mass production was the 1950 Planner Group, codeveloped with B.G. Mesberg, who he met at Modernage. Each piece was designed to be affordable and fit the compact floor plans of postwar subdivisions. McCobb was interested in creating “living walls,” with cabinets and desks that folded out so that furniture could be active space. The Symmetric Group furniture, which included a lounge chair, was similarly economic with its domestic footprint while simultaneously making a statement through unexpected forms.

Production of the Symmetric sofa ended following McCobb’s death in 1969, making it rare for collectors. In 2019, it was one of five editions of McCobb’s Symmetric Group to be reimagined by designer Ralph Pucci. While updates were made for modern tastes, such as velvet upholstery and fuller cushions, the enduring popularity of the designs proves they are timeless.

You could call Paul McCobb a man of parts. As a furniture designer, his work combined the attributes of many of his now better-known peers. Like Bauhaus designers such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer, McCobb's furniture had purity of form and line. Like the designs of Florence Knoll and George Nelson and his associates, McCobb’s work was efficient and purposeful. And even like George Nakashima, he was adept at interpreting traditional forms, in particular those of chairs, for the 20th century.

More than any other designer beside Russel Wright, with his ubiquitous ceramic tableware, McCobb was arguably responsible for the introduction of modern design into middle-class American households — if for no other reason than that he designed the 1952 set for the original Today show. McCobb also designed cohesive lines of furnishings, such as his best-known Planner Group, that gave homes an instant “look.” McCobb designed for several companies, most notably Directional, the New York firm that also produced designs by other legends, such as Paul Evans and Vladimir Kagan. 

The signal aesthetic attribute of McCobb designs is that he completely forsook ornament — his pieces have no flourishes. And yet, because they are honest — the chairs, desks and tables are made of solid wood, usually maple or birch, often paired with frames and legs of wrought iron; the cabinets are traditionally scaled; the seating pieces have historic antecedents such as the Windsor chair — McCobb’s mid-century modern work has warmth and presence.

As you can see from the offerings on 1stDibs, vintage Paul McCobb designs are the pin-striped suit, or the little black dress, of a décor: an essential.