Pair of Chrome Cityscape Dining Pedestals by Paul Evans - Signed
About the Item
- Creator:Paul Evans (Designer)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 28.5 in (72.39 cm)Width: 24 in (60.96 cm)Depth: 16 in (40.64 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1970s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Minor losses.
- Seller Location:Las Vegas, NV
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1399238739302
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Las Vegas, NV
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- 1970s Brutalist Copper Patchwork Pedestal by Percival LaferBy Percival Lafer, LaferLocated in Las Vegas, NVGreat 1970s pedestal in lacquered patchwork copper by Brazilian furniture designer, Percival Lafer. Pedestal is in great shape overall. The only imperfection to note is one small ar...Category
20th Century Dining Room Tables
MaterialsCopper
- Pair of Raw Live Edge Wood Hourglass Dining Table PedestalsLocated in Las Vegas, NVCompletely unique and one of a kind twist to your traditional live edge table. These hourglass shaped pedestals are solid wood and could easily support a huge piece of glass. They wo...Category
20th Century Minimalist Dining Room Tables
MaterialsMaple
- Polished Arched Travertine Pedestal Dining Table by Carlo ScarpaBy Carlo Scarpa, Cattelan ItaliaLocated in Las Vegas, NVNothing short of amazing. A pair of solid, polished travertine pedestals by Carlo Scarpa for Cattelan Italia. The pedestals are designed in a staggered, architectural arch pattern g...Category
20th Century Minimalist Dining Room Tables
MaterialsTravertine
- Polished Arched Travertine Pedestals by Carlo ScarpaBy Carlo Scarpa, Cattelan ItaliaLocated in Las Vegas, NVNothing short of amazing. A pair of solid, polished travertine pedestals by Carlo Scarpa for Cattelan Italia. The pedestals are designed in a staggered, architectural arch pattern g...Category
20th Century Minimalist Dining Room Tables
MaterialsTravertine
- Pair of Sheaf of Wheat Tables by Edward WormleyBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Las Vegas, NVGorgeous mid-century sheaf of wheat side tables with gorgeous Empress Green Marble tops and brass details, designed in the 1950's by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Tables are in excell...Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsMarble
- Pair of Leather Demilune Side Tables by Maitland SmithBy Maitland SmithLocated in Las Vegas, NVPetite pair of leather and metal demilune tables by Maitland Smith. Each table features a single small drawer. Tables are in overall good condit...Category
Late 20th Century Side Tables
MaterialsMetal, Brass
- Paul Evans Signed Mid Century Chrome Cityscape Dining TableBy Paul EvansLocated in Countryside, ILPaul Evans Signed mid century chrome Cityscape dining table This table measures: 48 wide x 48 deep x 26 inches high, with a chair clearance of 24 ...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsGlass
- Vintage Chrome "Cityscape" Dining Table by Paul Evans for DirectionalBy Directional, Paul EvansLocated 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 Glass Top Cityscape Citiscape Signed Dining Room TableBy Paul EvansLocated in Wayne, NJThis is a Glamorus Paul Evans glass top cityscape 8 foot dining table. Please note, this is a mirror finish show showing many reflections in photos...Category
Vintage 1970s Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsGlass
- Signed Paul Evans Octagonal Cityscape Pedestal Dining TableBy Paul EvansLocated in Middlesex, NJSigned Paul Evans octagonal cityscape pedestal dining table Table is showing reflection from floor.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsMetal
- 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
- Signed Paul Evans Octagonal Cityscape Burl Wood and Chrome Dining TableBy Paul EvansLocated in Middlesex, NJSigned Paul Evans octagonal cityscape burl wood and chrome dining table.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsMetal