Paul Evans "PE 400" Cityscape Dining Table, 1970s
View Similar Items
Paul Evans "PE 400" Cityscape Dining Table, 1970s
About the Item
- Creator:Directional (Manufacturer),Paul Evans (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 29 in (73.66 cm)Width: 96 in (243.84 cm)Depth: 48 in (121.92 cm)
- Style:Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1970s
- Condition:Very good condition.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU817831431952
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.
- Paul Evans Welded Steel & Glass Crescent Base Dining Table 1970 (Signed)By Directional, Paul EvansLocated in New York, NYPair of brutalist welded steel crescent shaped table bases decorated with colored enamel paint and gilt accents by Paul Evans for Directional Furniture. Bases support a thick glass t...Category
Vintage 1970s American Brutalist Dining Room Tables
MaterialsEnamel, Steel
- Paul Evans PE 102 Sculpted Bronze Dining Table 1973 (Signed)By Paul Evans, DirectionalLocated in New York, NYHand crafted epoxy and atomized bronze applied over steel, dining table base with thick glass top. This iconic table combining traditional craft with experimental materials is signed...Category
Late 20th Century American Modern Dining Room Sets
MaterialsBronze, Steel
- Custom Round Mirrored Dining TableBy VenfieldLocated in New York, NYCustom round starfire mirrored dining table with mirrored side Baguettes and pedestal stand base.Category
2010s American Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsGlass, Mirror
$20,000 / item - Charles Hollis Jones Dining Table with Lucite LegsBy Charles Hollis JonesLocated in New York, NYOriginal Charles Hollis Jones dining table with Lucite legs. A refined modern dining table designed by Charles Hollis Jones in 1970s. The table consists of thick Lucite legs, a polis...Category
Vintage 1970s American Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsMetal
- Glass Top Dining Table with Banded Lucite LegsLocated in New York, NYGlass top dining table with banded Lucite legs. Customization is available in different sizes and glass colors.Category
2010s American Neoclassical Dining Room Tables
MaterialsGlass, Lucite
$40,000 / item - Octagonal Mirrored Centre Hall TableLocated in New York, NYMirrored centre hall table or dining table in Neoclassical style.Category
1990s American Neoclassical Dining Room Tables
MaterialsGlass, Wood
$6,800 Sale Price53% Off
- Paul Evans "Cityscape" Dining / Console TableBy Directional, Paul EvansLocated in Denton, TXPaul Evans cityscape for Directional dining / console table with chrome-plated steel and burled wood base. Glass not included Base dimensions: 63 L x 19 D x 28.38 Glass: 71 3/...Category
20th Century North American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsSteel, Chrome
- 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
- Paul Evans Cityscape Dining TableBy Paul EvansLocated in Miami, FLPaul Evans Cityscape dining table in chrome with two leaves.Category
Vintage 1970s Saint Pierre and Miquelon Mid-Century Modern Dining Room T...
MaterialsChrome
- Original Signed Cityscape PE 400 Series Coffee Table by Paul Evans, 1970sBy Paul EvansLocated in Beverly Hills, CAA sheet of tinted glass sits atop a base of burl-wood and brass intersecting polyominoes in this object of sculptural mastery. The piece highlights Evans' attunement to both form and...Category
Vintage 1970s American Art Deco Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Modern Brutalist Sculptural Welded Steel & Bronze Dining Table Paul Evans 1970sBy Directional, Paul EvansLocated in Keego Harbor, MIFor your consideration is a stupendous and iconic, glass topped dining table, on sculpturally welded steel and bronze bases, by Paul evans for Directional, circa the 1970s. In excell...Category
Vintage 1970s Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsBronze, Steel
- Cityscape Dining Table by Paul EvansBy Paul EvansLocated in North Hollywood, CAGorgeous vintage burlwood top Paul Evans dining table with brass base. Large table top with no scratches on it. Base has nice detail and t...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsWood