Biography

Paul McCobb ( 1917-1969)

Paul McCobb made his name in 1948 as a design and decorating consultant for Martin Feinman’s Modernage Furniture in New York. While working at Modernage, McCobb met B. G. Mesberg, his future business partner for the Planner and Directional furniture ranges.

Best known for his furniture creations, Paul McCobb also designed radios and televisions for CBS-Columbia, Hi-Fi consoles for Bell & Howell, and other household items. He acts as design consultant to many major companies, including Singer, Alcoa, Goodyear, Columbia Records and Remington Rand. For years, he criss-crossed America for conferences, panel discussions and radio and TV talk-show appearances, and ran his own design column in newspapers across the country.

In addition to his public commitments, he taught design at the Philadelphia Museum School of Art.

Between 1950 and 1955, Paul McCobb received MoMA’s Good Design Award five times, as well as the Philadelphia Museum of Arts’ Contribution to Better Design Award in 1959.

Paul McCobb’s design aesthetic is based on simplicity of form and absence of ornamentation. Inspired by his New England upbringing and influenced by Shaker design, Paul McCobb combines slender lines with sculptural forms. He offers a playful take on traditional forms with touches of Scandinavian craftsmanship.

Bibliographie : LINDBECK, Fifties Furniture par Paul McCobb. Directional Designs, Schiffer Book USA, p.59.