Paul Evans Patchwork Walnut Dining Table for Directional, 1970s
View Similar Items
Paul Evans Patchwork Walnut Dining Table for Directional, 1970s
About the Item
- Creator:Directional (Maker),Paul Evans (Designer)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 30.25 in (76.84 cm)Width: 114.25 in (290.2 cm)Depth: 40 in (101.6 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.
- Seller Location:Hamburg, PA
- Reference Number:Seller: 89351stDibs: LU926921521012
Cityscape Dining Table
The Cityscape dining table created by artist, sculptor and furniture designer Paul Evans (1931–87) is one of the most recognizable examples of brutalist design. Evans, whose favored material was metal, is best known for his 1970s contributions to the American Studio Craft movement as well as his breakthroughs in brutalism. In the early 1950s, Evans studied at Philadelphia’s Textile Institute and then at the Rochester Institute of Technology and Michigan’s Cranbrook Academy of Art, which has counted among its students and faculty Charles and Ray Eames, Florence Knoll, Eero Saarinen and many more towering design figures.
Later in the decade, Evans moved to New Hope, Pennsylvania, not far from the Bucks County town in which he was raised, and joined with woodworker Phillip Lloyd Powell in a decade-long partnership. Evans and Powell collaborated on a significant series of pieces, often procuring discarded wood from furniture maker George Nakashima, who had a neighboring studio. In 1964, Evans teamed with North Carolina manufacturer Directional Furniture, for which he designed classic lines, including the 1970s-era Cityscape series, which in addition to the dining table, included a coffee table, floor lamps, a credenza and more.
Although based in Pennsylvania, Evans found the inspiration for his Cityscape dining table in New York City’s crowded skyline — specifically, in the Art Deco office buildings and stately spires. Beneath the piece’s beveled glass tabletop, in a base fashioned from brass, chromed steel and walnut burlwood, Evans’s decorative clusters of boxy forms echo Manhattan’s blocky building tops and wealth of window glass. It’s clear that the Cityscape series has roots in Evans’s affinity for urban landscapes, but the line’s sculptural attributes rendered the work outlandish in modest living spaces — so much so that a Directional print advertisement characterized the designs as “startling.”
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.
- Set of Six Paul Evans Cantilevered Dining Chairs for Directional, 1970sBy Directional, Paul EvansLocated in Hamburg, PAA Mid-Century Modern set of 6 Paul Evans cantilevered dining chairs for Directional. This set includes two armchairs and four side chairs. These ...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Milo Baughman Dining Table for Directional, 1960sBy Directional, Milo BaughmanLocated in Hamburg, PAA beautiful Mid-Century Modern dining table designed by Milo Baughman for Directional. The table is made of gorgeous teak, rosewood, and walnut, has two leaves, and opens up to 112 i...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsUpholstery, Rosewood, Teak, Walnut
- Brutalist Sculpted Bronze Mirror by Paul EvansBy Paul EvansLocated in Hamburg, PAA Brutalist or Le Brutalisme sculpted bronze resin Wall Mirror by Paul Evans. The decorative mirror would look great in any Mid-Century Modern or Contemporary interior decorated with Brutalist furniture from the Mid-20th Century. The sculpted bronze furniture...Category
Vintage 1970s American Brutalist Wall Mirrors
MaterialsMirror, Resin
- Custom Karl Springer Style Gold Leaf Dining Table, 1988By Karl SpringerLocated in Hamburg, PAA fabulous custom-made gold leaf and black lacquered dining table on casters with two leaves which seats 10-12 people. The table and leaves hav...Category
Vintage 1980s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsGold Leaf
- Knoll Dining Table Designed by Warren Platner, 20th CenturyBy Knoll, Warren PlatnerLocated in Hamburg, PAAn exquisite table designed by Warren Platner for Knoll. This iconic dining table would look great in any Contemporary, Transitional, or Traditional interior. This set has a timeless...Category
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsSteel
- Solid Stainless Steel Center or Dining Table by Ron Seff, 1980sBy Ron SeffLocated in Hamburg, PAA monumental center table or dining table in solid stainless steel by Ron Seff, 1980. Very expensive new: retailed originally for $29,000.00. Has original glass but some scratches, y...Category
Vintage 1980s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Paul Evans Patchwork Copper 106" Extendable Dining Table for Directional, c 1967By Paul Evans, DirectionalLocated in Los Angeles, CAStunning and very rare copper clad extendable dining table by Paul Evans for Directional, produced circa 1967. This incredible piece of design history is fabricated from patinated pieces of copper, brass, and pewter formed in a patchwork pattern. Perfect statement piece for a discerning collector, design connoisseur or luxury interior designer. Hefty and sturdy construction in this extendable Parsons table which can be transformed from 66" up to a large 106" with the two matching leaves, allowing seating for up to 10 to 12 people. Or consider using as a heavy duty desk / work table. The fusion of these mixed metals of copper, brass and pewter formulates an exemplary piece which would be a welcomed statement to any connoisseur's collection. We have the matching cafe / game table and floating wall console...Category
Vintage 1960s American Brutalist Dining Room Tables
MaterialsBrass, Copper, Pewter
- Midcentury Dining Table by Paul Evans for DirectionalBy Paul Evans, DirectionalLocated in Brooklyn, NYStunning vintage dining table by Paul Evans for Directional. Beautiful patchwork burl wood design that sits on a pedestal base with chrom...Category
Vintage 1960s Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsChrome
$10,500 Sale Price30% Off - Paul Evans for Directional Cityscape Style Mid Century Patchwork Burlwood TableBy Paul Evans, DirectionalLocated in Countryside, ILPaul Evans for Directional Cityscape style mid century patchwork burlwood table The table measures: 39 wide x 39 deep x 29.25 high, with a chair...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsBurl
- Paul Evans, "Cityscape" Dining Table, Mirror, Wood, Directional, USA, c. 1970By Directional, Paul EvansLocated in High Point, NCA wood and mirror "Cityscape" dining table designed by Paul Evans and produced by Directional, circa 1970.Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsMirror, Wood
- Vintage Chrome "Cityscape" Dining Table by Paul Evans for DirectionalBy Paul Evans, DirectionalLocated in North Hollywood, CAExceptional vintage “Cityscape” dining table designed by Paul Evans for Directional in the United States, circa 1970s. This dining table belongs to ...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsChrome
- Paul Evans for Directional Cityscape Dining TableBy Paul EvansLocated in West Palm Beach, FLPaul Evans for Directional cityscape table base. Size lends itself to either being a dining table or console table base, glass is not included. Ra...Category
Vintage 1970s North American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsBrass
$7,840 Sale Price20% Off