A lot of catching up to do
It has been difficult to find anything among the writing about designers of the 50 - 60's with regard to Tony Paul. We've collected what we could over the years, the bar trolley, the standing coat rack, the round snack tables (of which there were more in Palm Springs to be bought). I always wondered why Tony Paul was hard to find when McCobb, Probber, Seibel, etc. were everywhere. (with bios to boot). Many years ago on one of the modernist forums I sought out knowledge of Tony Paul and was told he worked in-house for Italian firms but never designed in the US. I guess that was a half truth. I want to find out more about his designs in Europe, who they were for, how we can get a hold of them. I also think he is worth a book giving him his due as one of the distinguished designers of the mid-20th century.
Woodlin-Hall
On page 5 of Ann Kerr's Russel Wright book of 1998, there is a Richards Morgenthau/Raymor ad showing Tony Paul's snack table with birch top and birch ball feet. The table is under the Woodlin-Hall part of the ad. I am thinking the coat rack, nesting tables, bar trolley would also be Woodlin-Hall. What was that collection called? No one is creditted with the item in the Jenfred part of the ad.
Robert Barber, Westwood, Levco, etc
Hi Lori, thanks for taking an interest in all this! Did TP design pre-fenton glass for Robert Barber? Is the yellow chafing/fondue dish of Westwood his? Does the short Levco lamp in a rainbow of colors belong to him? What were some of the Italian firms he designed for? and was that ceramics?
Hi everyone
ok, first off, Finelines, if you could send me a copy of the ad I'll take a look at it. And, yes, TP, did design pre-fenton, way pre-fenton. As far as I know Westwood was only lamps. So you all know, Gramps is 88 and his health goes in and out. I do have a couple hours of recordings and I have sat down with him and we have gone through only one drawer of photos of his designs. There are many more that we need to go through. I would say at this point I have around 200 photos and most of that is '50s. So we still have a couple decades to get through. Hopefully he gets past this bout of illness and we can continue.
Finelines, yes, I said ceramics, and LOTS of lamps.
This is all very new for me ... everyone, except my dad, had no idea that TP's designs were so sought after. I am getting the web site together, if my son would stop playing Grand Theft Auto 🙂 In the meantime, if you all have pix you want me to look at and show to TP I would be glad to. We are also going to put a bio on this web site.
Looking at all of this ...
from the sidelines. (I am not a collector) I am deeply moved by it. We designers always worry about all kind of un-predictable side effects of new products, new technology etc. This is one of these nice exemples of something that is only possible thanks to the World Wide Web. I am going to frame this thread
Koen...
Thank you for being receptive to all this ... I truly appreciate your input. I have so much research to do and so little time to get info from my grandfather. I'm trying to learn everything I can from him .. wish I would have known all this 10 years ago. Funny, TP wants to get back into production again, via me ... a huge undertaking for me. But for now, we need to focus on the research. Will be heading to MOMA in a few weeks ... TP won a few awards ... Thanks! 🙂
Tony Paul?
Here are ceramics from Alfaraz, multi-colored 60's lamps from LEVCO, a pair of brass? Westwood lamps, a Raymor lamp which could have been done by LEVCO for Raymor, and a table attributed to TP - is it Woodlin-Hall or Robert Baker? http://new.photos.yahoo.com/finelines10/albums. Hope something strikes a cord.
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