DIRECTIONAL DESIGNS/PAUL McCOBB
Paul McCobb

Paul McCobb: DIRECTIONAL DESIGNS/PAUL McCOBB. NYC: Directional Furniture Showrooms, 1956. First edition. A very good to near-fine hardcover book in full decorated black cloth, issued without dust jacket. The black cloth is lightly thumbed, and the former owner has signed his name on both sets of endpapers. otherwise interior unmarked and clean. This edition is out-of-print. First-rate book design by the author.

8.5 x 11.25 hardcover book with 112 pages profusely illustrated with black and white photos of Paul McCobb's outstanding Directional Design Modern Furniture from the 1950s. Contains over 100 coordinating room settings, including chairs, sofas, desks, benches, shelves, interiors, and much more, with information on McCobb's achievements and design principles.

No disrespect to the Schiffer reprint, but this catalog leaves the reprint in the dust-- from the halftone sharpness to the spot-color separations. This is the real deal, and a rare opportunity to own a nice copy of the catalog that spotlights a very influential modern furniture line.

Paul McCobb's furniture and interior designs of the 1950s rank alongside Russell Wright, Gustav Stickley, and Heywood-Wakefield as marked staples in modern design. Paul McCobb's Directional Designs furniture line exhibits the low-cost, functional, and versatile furniture components, storage units, and interiors that earned McCobb the title of "America's decorator" during the mid-twentieth century.

Paul McCobb (1917-69) like his contemporaries Harvey Probber and George Nelson, helped introduce Americans to modular furniture. McCobb never received any formal design training but first established a studio in 1945. He worked primarily as a decorator and retail display designer, eventually turning his attention to furniture: by 1950, B.G. Mosberg was marketing his stylish, affordable Planner Group. Other, more luxurious collections followed, including the Directional, Predictor Linear, and Perimeter lines, all produced by Winchendon Furniture and marketed by McCobb himself.

McCobb's pieces were flexible and practical, designed to meet the needs of post World War II middle-class lifestyles. For example, his "living walls", complete with moveable room dividers and storage systems, allowed for maximum efficiency in limited spaces. He became a household name in the 1950's, earning himself the nickname "America's Decorator". His work was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Merchandise Mart in Chicago.

out of stock