Classical Greek Decorative Objects
There is rare surviving furniture from ancient Greece, yet this classical style has informed design for centuries. Interiors of houses in antiquity were minimal, with much of a room’s color coming from frescoes on the walls and mosaics on the floors. Classical Greek furniture was sparing but finely crafted and influenced by Egyptian furniture design through Mediterranean trade.
Furnishings of the period were usually made from local wood like cypress, cedar, oak and willow from ancient Greece’s plentiful forests, although some pieces were carved from marble, such as a 300–200 B.C. throne with lion legs and a curved back now at the Getty Villa. Comfort and clean lines characterized designs during the Classical era, the symmetry and thoughtful proportions reflecting the architecture of Greek temples.
Some pieces of ancient Greek furniture were simple, rectangular platforms like the klinē, a multipurpose ancestor of today’s couches or daybeds that held cushions stuffed with wool, dry grass or down. These structures were used for both sleeping and dining, which wealthy Greeks did while reclining. At night, oil lamps illuminated rooms that frequently surrounded a garden courtyard.
Most of what scholars have learned about Greek furniture design owes to its representations in art like vases and stelae. The portable diphros stool, with its backless design and four turned legs, was one of the more common types of seating in daily Greek life — it appears as such for the gods on the Parthenon frieze. Stools without backs have been found in early Roman tombs, while benches were also common Greek seating furniture created for use in theaters. In houses of the Hellenistic period, benches seemingly functioned as tables, too.
Some designs evolved through adaptations by the Romans, including the klismos chair. After prominent archaeological excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum, the klismos chair — with its four saber legs and the elegant curves that define its back — was a source of inspiration for aesthetics in eras ranging from 18th-century neoclassicism to 20th-century Art Deco.
Find a collection of Classical Greek decorative objects, wall decorations and building and garden elements on 1stDibs.
1950s English Vintage Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Plaster
Late 19th Century American Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Terracotta
2010s Italian Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Concrete, Metal
1890s German Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Porcelain
1920s Italian Vintage Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Marble
19th Century English Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Bronze
20th Century Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Plaster
2010s Italian Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Concrete, Metal
19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Bronze
Late 19th Century English Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Ormolu
Late 19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Ormolu
19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Bronze
Early 19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Ormolu
20th Century Italian Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Limestone
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Ceramic, Earthenware
1780s French Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Marble
Late 19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Bronze
Mid-20th Century Italian Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Ceramic
Early 20th Century Italian Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Terracotta
Late 19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Lapis Lazuli, Bronze, Enamel
1920s French Vintage Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Marble, Spelter
Late 19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Bronze
Late 20th Century European Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Composition
19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Bronze
19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Iron
Late 19th Century Italian Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Porcelain
20th Century English Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Marble
20th Century English Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Marble
1910s American Vintage Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Bronze
Early 20th Century Italian Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Alabaster
Late 19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Copper
21st Century and Contemporary Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Marble
19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Marble, Bronze
Early 19th Century Italian Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Terracotta
19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Terracotta, Oak
1970s Vintage Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Plaster
19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Bronze
1880s German Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Terracotta
19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Bronze
15th Century and Earlier Italian Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
19th Century Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Marble
1960s Unknown Vintage Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Stone, Metal
15th Century and Earlier Italian Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
1960s Italian Vintage Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Ceramic
Early 20th Century German Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Bronze
20th Century Italian Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Marble
19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Bronze
19th Century Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Bronze
Late 19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Bronze
Late 19th Century English Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Silver Plate
Mid-19th Century Italian Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Serpentine
Late 19th Century Italian Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Carrara Marble
19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Terracotta
1960s Italian Vintage Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Ceramic
Mid-19th Century Italian Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Marble
20th Century Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Terracotta
Mid-19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Bronze
19th Century Antique Classical Greek Decorative Objects
Marble