Burl Walnut and Satin Metal Coffee Table Attributed to Paul Evans, 1970s

American artist-designer Paul Evans was born in 1931 in Newtown, Pennsylvania. He studied sculpture, metalwork, and silversmithery at a variety of institutions, including the School for American Crafters in Rochester, New York and the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Evans was the resident silversmith at the history museum of Sturbridge Village near Springfield, Massachusetts before moving to an artist community in New Hope, Pennsylvania in the 1950s. There, he began his partnership with Philip Powell, selling original modern design furniture.

Evans is known creating experimental fusions of mid-century furniture design and mixed metal sculpture, often at monumental scales that opposed the sleek, simple aesthetic of the era. In 1957, his popularity rose after he took part in a landmark exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts (now the Museum of Arts and Design) in New York. In 1964, he began designing for furniture manufacturer Directional, where he introduced notable editions such as the Argent series, Sculpted Bronze, and the Cityscape collection. In 1981 he made the move to contemporary upholstery maker Selig in Massachusetts.

Though he died in his mid fifties, Evans was quite prolific, leaving behind a body of work that, in the last several years, has become highly collectible.