Pair of Carved Wood Doors by Phillip Powell

About the Item

These two doors were commissioned directly from the artist and were made for a specific site . The front of the doors are wonderfully contoured and are highly sculptural. The design retains the original qualities of the wood including natural fissures, knots and striations. The raised elements around the knots of the wood further accentuate the natural qualities of the wood. There are ten giltwood details in the design. There is one stabile age crack on the proper left door measuring three inches in length adjacent to one of the knots. The back of the doors are painted in vivid red paint. The proper left door is fitted with a small free-form walnut shelf and mirror. Both doors retain their original hinges which show oxidation from age.

Creator:
Phillip Lloyd Powell (Maker)
Dimensions:
Height: 83 in (210.82 cm)Width: 48 in (121.92 cm)Depth: 2.5 in (6.35 cm)
Sold As:
Set of 2
Style:
Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Giltwood,Lacquer,Mirror,Walnut,Appliqué,Carved,Painted
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
1960-1969
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1965
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use. Doors are approximately 2-1/2 thick. There is a small free-form walnut shelf that is approximately 8 inch deep that attaches to the mirror side of the doors.
Seller Location:
Atlanta, GA
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU90451967052
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Shop All Phillip Lloyd Powell

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.

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