EXQUISITE VINTAGE MID CENTURY MODERN END TABLE DESIGNED BY REVERED FURNITURE DESIGNER PAUL MCCOBB. (CIRCA 1950s) RARE CONNOISSEUR COLLECTION. COMPRISED OF WOOD, GLASS, AND BRASS. DIMENSIONS: 20″ H x 25″ L x 23 W. PROVENANCE: PRIVATE ESTATE, BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA. Paul W McCobb (1917 – 1969) was active in the United States and is known for modern furniture design, ceramics, and Sculpture. The single aesthetic attribute of vintage Paul McCobb furniture is that the designer completely forsook ornament – his pieces have no flourishes. And yet, because they are honest – McCobb’s chairs, desks and dining tables are made of solid wood, usually maple or birch, often paired with frames and legs of wrought iron; the cabinets are traditionally scaled; the seating pieces have historic antecedents such as the Windsor chair – his mid-century modern work has warmth and presence. You could call the Massachusetts-born McCobb a man of parts. As a furniture designer, his work combined the attributes of many of his now better-known peers. Like the work of Bauhaus designers such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer, McCobb’s furniture was pure of form and line. Like the designs of Florence Knoll, George Nelson, and his associates, McCobb’s work was efficient and purposeful. And even like George Nakashima, he was adept at interpreting traditional forms, particularly those of chairs, for the 20th century. More than any other designer besides Russel Wright, with his ubiquitous ceramic tableware, McCobb was arguably responsible for introducing modern design into American households – if for no other reason than that he designed the 1952 set for the original Today show. McCobb, a repeat recipient of the Good Design Award from the Museum of Modern Art, also designed cohesive lines of furnishings, such as his best-known Planner Group, that gave homes an instant look. He designed for several companies, most notably Directional, which was home to McCobb’s Origami chair. In 1949, in partnership with New York furniture salesman B. Mesberg, McCobb established the Directional Furniture Company, a? Brand known to vintage mid-century modern furniture collectors everywhere. Directional opened its doors after McCobb created the high-end Directional Modern line of sofas distributed by the New York-based Modernage Company. Directional also produced designs by other legends, such as Paul Evans and Vladimir Kagan.