Paul Evans Cityscape Credenza
View Similar Items
Paul Evans Cityscape Credenza
About the Item
- Creator:Directional (Manufacturer),Paul Evans (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 30 in (76.2 cm)Width: 90 in (228.6 cm)Depth: 22 in (55.88 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1970s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. All over patina from age which is typical for cityscape pieces.
- Seller Location:Highland, IN
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU90918817963
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.
Directional
A brand known to vintage mid-century modern furniture collectors everywhere, Directional Furniture opened its doors after American furniture designer Paul McCobb created the high-end Directional Modern line of sofas distributed by the New York–based Modernage Company.
In his pivotal introduction of postwar modernism to the mass market, the revered Massachusetts-born McCobb had established several lines, from the affordable and refined Planner Group for Winchendon to the swooping and unexpected arms of the Symmetric Group for Widdicomb, a Shaker-inspired collection that included a sofa and a lounge chair. Like all of McCobb’s designs, the Directional pieces for Modernage are defined by a sleek aesthetic in which the focus is on elegant functionality, frequently using fine materials such as brass and walnut. In 1949, in partnership with New York furniture salesman B.G. Mesberg, McCobb set up the Directional Furniture Company.
The pair’s first pieces were upholstered chairs, intended to harmonize with the modular Multiplex pieces designed by Martin Feinman. McCobb then designed an array of furniture including storage, dining, seating, desks and other pieces with details such as leather tops, wood finishes and Roman Travertine surfaces. While Directional stopped production of McCobb’s work in the early 1960s, it still released numerous pieces by leading designers manufactured by a variety of companies.
Designer Paul Evans led the factory for a time after joining in 1964. His provocative work for the company often reflected his understanding of materials from his early training as a silversmith, such as the popular Cityscape series — a milestone in brutalist design — with its blocky forms accented with brass and chrome. At his shop in Lambertville, New Jersey, he collaborated with a design team to clad furniture pieces in metallic surfaces, like the Argente line that began production in 1968 and involved an acetylene torch to give its aluminum material a textural quality. He also worked on the Sculpted Bronze series with hand-formed resin shaped over plywood or steel that was then coated with atomized bronze.
Other Directional designers included Vladimir Kagan, who contributed biomorphic sofas and swivel chairs; Milo Baughman, who created tables and dressers inspired by Scandinavian modernism; and Jack Lenor Larsen, who covered sofas in dynamically patterned fabric.
Find authentic Directional Furniture seating, tables, case pieces and storage cabinets from top sellers around the world on 1stDibs.
- Stow Davis Two Bay CredenzaBy Stow DavisLocated in Highland, INThis handsome credenza by Stow Davis is extremely well built and chock full of pleasing details including flat stock legs that go through the teak case and the slender chrome pulls. ...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Credenzas
MaterialsSteel
- Michael Taylor "Far East" Credenza by BakerBy Baker Furniture Company, Michael TaylorLocated in Highland, INA great design in fantastic original condition, this Michael Taylor credenza by Baker Furniture is part of his "Far East" design which incorporates Asian motifs in the designs. The b...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Credenzas
MaterialsWood
- Milo Baughman Walnut Credenza by Glenn of CaliforniaBy Glenn of California, Milo BaughmanLocated in Highland, INThis walnut cabinet designed by Milo Baughman for Glenn of California is handsome and highly functional. The asymmetrical arrangement is very attractive. It has a single door which c...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Credenzas
MaterialsWalnut
- Paul Evans Rare Oversize Sculpted Bronze Coffee TableBy Paul EvansLocated in Highland, INThis exceptional coffee table by Paul Evans was a custom order and is the largest we've ever seen of his sculpted bronze series. The architectural base, an arrangement of heavily tex...Category
Vintage 1970s American Brutalist Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsComposition, Bronze
$20,000 Sale Price20% Off - Lucite "Cityscape" Coffee TableLocated in Highland, INWe have nicknamed this elaborate coffee table the "cityscape" table as the base features 18 rectangular forms of varying heights in a compelling arrangement that hearkens to a cluste...Category
Vintage 1980s American Hollywood Regency Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsGlass, Lucite
- Evans Clark Folding Bookcase/ Display Shelf/ Room Divider by Glenn of CaliforniaBy Glenn of California, Evans ClarkLocated in Highland, INThis fantastic folding piece by Evans Clark for Glenn of California can serve as a bookcase, a display shelf or a room divider. The mahogany case has five shelves on each side attach...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
MaterialsWood
- Paul Evans Cityscape Patchwork Burlwood CredenzaBy Directional, Paul Evans, Milo BaughmanLocated in Houston, TXPaul Evans Cityscape patchwork burlwood credenza. This stunning long mid-century Paul Evans for Directional credenza or chest is comprised of cabine...Category
Vintage 1960s North American Mid-Century Modern Credenzas
MaterialsWood
- Spectacular Signed Paul Evans Cityscape CredenzaBy Paul EvansLocated in Miami, FLA chromium polished steel cabinet with three pairs of doors each concealing shelved interiors on either side flanking a cupboard with a single steel decorated drawer split into compa...Category
Mid-20th Century American Credenzas
MaterialsSteel
- Paul Evans Directional Patchwork Credenza, c 1970'sBy Paul Evans, DirectionalLocated in New York, NYSpectacular Post Modern, Brutalist school credenza, designed by Paul Evans for Directional c. 1970's. The sideboard features a large rectangular cabinet with patchwork burl veneer, w...Category
Vintage 1970s American Post-Modern Credenzas
MaterialsChrome
- Paul Evans Cityscape Burl and Chrome Cabinet CredenzaBy Paul EvansLocated in Roanoke, VAGorgeous 1970s cityscape credenza by Paul Evans. The unusual shape and mix of burl and chrome make this piece a total showstopper. Credenza has four cabinets with shelving in each fo...Category
Vintage 1970s American Modern Credenzas
MaterialsChrome
- Excellent Paul Evans Chrome Cityscape Credenza Mid-Century ModernBy Paul EvansLocated in Pemberton, NJExcellent Paul Evans chrome Cityscape credenza. This piece is in remarkable condition because it was covered with a piece of glass for the last ...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Credenzas
MaterialsChrome
- Paul Evans Cityscape Console in Burl Wood and ChromeBy Directional, Paul EvansLocated in Dallas, TX1975 Paul Evans Cityscape console in burl wood and chrome. Beautiful console featured in Paul Evans book.Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Credenzas
MaterialsChrome
$19,125 Sale Price45% Off