Pair of Robsjohn Gibbings Widdicomb Walnut Head Boards with Rafia Wrapped Frame
About the Item
- Creator:T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings (Designer),Widdicomb Furniture Co. (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 33.5 in (85.09 cm)Width: 42 in (106.68 cm)Depth: 1.75 in (4.45 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1956
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Very clean original.
- Seller Location:Ferndale, MI
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU848228920272
T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings
British-born designer, interior decorator and author T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings (1905–76) was one of the great American tastemakers in the middle decades of the 20th century. Much like Edward Wormley, Robsjohn-Gibbings was a design classicist by education and inclination, but he would come to create some of the most gracious and livable modern furnishings of the era.
Robsjohn-Gibbings studied architecture at the University of London, then held various jobs that included designing décors for passenger liners and working as the art director of a film studio. In the early 1930s, while employed by the upper-crust interior designer Charles J. Duveen, Robsjohn-Gibbings experienced an epiphany during a visit to the British Museum. Examining the furniture depicted on ancient Greek ceramics — lithe stools and klismos chairs — he realized that he had found a design touchstone. By 1936, he had moved to New York and set up a showroom on Madison Avenue for his modern reinterpretations of classic Greek designs. Aided by contacts he’d developed while working with Duveen, he quickly established a clientele that included Elizabeth Arden, Doris Duke and Thelma Chrysler Foy.
Through his writings for magazines and books, Robsjohn-Gibbings earned a public following and was established as an urbane arbiter of taste. From 1943 to 1956, he produced an understated line of modernist furnishings for Widdicomb, which included one of the icons of the period: the tiered, biomorphic Mesa coffee table (1951). Robsjohn-Gibbings moved to Athens, Greece, in 1966, and created a new line of antiquity-inspired pieces for the firm Saridis. The series turned out to be his swan song.
Collectors’ interest in Robsjohn-Gibbings was reignited in the 1980s, when the 200-plus pieces from his 1936–38 commission for the Bel-Air estate of Los Angeles socialite Hilda Boldt Weber — pared-down neoclassical pieces rendered in blond wood (with the occasional flourish) — came on the market. (Up until then, the collection had remained in the house, despite its having changed hands several times.)
But his work for Widdicomb remains his most widely known, appreciated for its elegance and generous proportions. Robsjohn-Gibbings despised the stern aesthetic associated with his Bauhaus contemporaries, and a keynote of his modernist pieces is that they have no sharp angles. His chair and sofa frames, table legs and even many cabinets feature softly contoured edges. In whatever styled he designed, Robsjohn-Gibbings was guided by simplicity and timelessness. He wanted his furniture to be lived with happily.
Widdicomb Furniture Co.
Admirers of vintage mid-century modern furnishings likely recognize the Widdicomb Furniture Company name for the fruitful partnerships it forged with iconic designers such as Frank Lloyd Wright, T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings and Mario Buatta. But there is more to the Widdicomb story than the albeit quite covetable sofas and bedroom furniture it produced during the middle of the 20th century.
A wealth of pine and oak forests rendered Grand Rapids, Michigan, a logging center during the 1800s, and it eventually gained recognition for its furniture industry. The American city became a destination for furniture makers who hailed from across the United States and beyond. Furniture maker George Widdicomb emigrated from England to the United States in 1845, eventually setting up a cabinet shop in Syracuse, New York, before moving west to Grand Rapids. There, he opened a shop with his four sons, including John Widdicomb, whose name would help carry the family legacy into the 20th century.
The Widdicomb shop in Grand Rapids prospered, as the patriarch’s formal English training allowed him to produce pieces with superior craftsmanship compared to those of his competitors. Although the Civil War halted business and took the life of one of the Widdicomb brothers, the family’s survivors would start anew as Widdicomb Brothers and Richards, soon renamed the Widdicomb Furniture Company.
John Widdicomb, however, split from the family business in 1897 to create the John Widdicomb Company, where he would go on to focus on Louis XV- and French Provincial-style furnishings. Chairs made in these styles have distinct characteristics, such as floral motifs carved in the frames and gently angled backrests. John's company also remained a family affair: The founder’s son, Harry, assumed control of the company when his father died in 1910, while John's nephew Ralph Widdicombe — who retained the English spelling of his last name and joined the John Widdicomb Company at its start — designed every single piece of the offerings at his uncle's manufacturing outfit until he retired in 1951. Ralph was an internationally distinguished furniture designer whose modern mahogany bedroom suite won first prize at the Paris Exposition in 1900.
The original iteration of Widdicomb, which was helmed by John's older brother William while John ran his own brand, had shifted from making period revival styles of furniture, such as Georgian and Chippendale, to manufacturing modern pieces in the late 1920s. Today vintage Widdicomb seating, tables and other pieces produced during the postwar years are particularly sought after by collectors of mid-20th-century furniture.
In 1959, master woodworker George Nakashima created his Origins collection for Widdicomb when the firm merged with Mueller Furniture Corporation and was known, for around 10 years, as Widdicomb-Mueller. Origins, a revered Shaker-influenced group of nightstands, upholstered lounge chairs, dining-room tables and more, saw Nakashima working with woods like Carpathian elm and laurel in his Pennsylvania studio.
Eventually, the two Widdicomb companies would combine in 1970, operating under the name John Widdicomb Co.
In 2002, the business closed after more than a century of operations, and its assets were acquired by Stickley Furniture. Interestingly, it was not the first time Widdicomb and Stickley overlapped: In the final years of the 19th century, the companies opened a shared storehouse in London, while John Widdicomb and Albert Stickley would travel Europe together for the purposes of research.
Find vintage Widdicomb coffee tables, case pieces, dining chairs and more on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Ferndale, MI
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- Klismos Occasional Table by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for WiddicombBy T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Widdicomb Furniture Co.Located in Ferndale, MIKlismos occasional table by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb furniture. Banded edge top sits on swooping tapered saber legs. Nicely refinished with original Widdicomb TH Robsjohn Gibbings...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsWalnut
- Pair TH Robsjohn Gibbings Widdicomb Lounge Chairs in Original as Found ConditionBy T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Widdicomb Furniture Co.Located in Ferndale, MIElegant pair of Robsjohn Gibbings armchairs produced by Widdicomb furniture. Upholstered back and seat outlined in walnut resting on slightly curved legs. Rather than reupholster this pair I...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Walnut
- As Found Robsjohn Gibbings for Widdicomb Footstool or OttomanBy T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Widdicomb Furniture Co.Located in Ferndale, MILong stored in my warehouse selling "as is " thinking someone out there has a chair this will work with . Clearly needs to be refinished and upholstered.Category
Mid-20th Century American Hollywood Regency Footstools
MaterialsUpholstery
- Pair of Gloss Black Woodard Wrought Iron Frame with Steel Mesh ArmchairsBy Russell Woodard, Woodard Furniture Co.Located in Ferndale, MIPair of Woodard wrought iron framed chairs with steel wire mesh forming the seat and backrest . Recently disassembled powder coated in gloss black. Ne...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
MaterialsSteel, Wrought Iron
- Pair of Pipsin Saarinen Swanson Wrought Iron Frame Chairs with Canvas Sling SeatLocated in Ferndale, MIPair of lounge chairs from the Ficks Reed Sol - Air line. Designed be husband wife team of Pipsin Saarinen and Robert Swanson. Black powder coated wroug...Category
Mid-20th Century Lounge Chairs
MaterialsWrought Iron
- Pair of Woodard Wrought Iron with Steel Mesh OttomansBy John Woodard, Woodard Furniture Co.Located in Ferndale, MIPair of Woodard steel mesh over wrought iron ottomans. Part of the Woodard Sculpture series. Designed to work with the large Woodard lounge chairs as ottomans stools or side tables. ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Ottomans and Poufs
MaterialsWrought Iron
- Robsjohn Gibbings for Widdicomb Walnut Stand with Brass PullBy Widdicomb Furniture Co., T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in Rockaway, NJSingle Mid-Century Modern walnut Stand with one drawer and a brass pull by Widdicomb.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsWalnut
- Pair of T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb Mid-Century Walnut CommodesBy Widdicomb Furniture Co., T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in New York, NYPAIR of American Mid-Century walnut bedside tables / commodes with an open lower compartment and an upper single drawer. (T.H. ROBSJOHN-GIBBINGS FOR WIDDICOMB FURNITURE CO.)(PRICED A...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsWood, Walnut
- Pair of Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb 3 Drawer ChestsBy Widdicomb Furniture Co., T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in Hanover, MAPair of American classical modern chests of drawers designed by Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb Furniture Co. in figured walnut with contrasting maple moldings. Both have original la...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsMaple, Walnut
- Pair of 1950s Walnut Nightstands or End Tables, Robsjohn-Gibbings for WiddicombBy Widdicomb Furniture Co., T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in Chicago, ILPair of 1950s Walnut Nightstands or End Tables, featuring one drawer with silvered spear shaped handles and an open upper compartment for storage. Classic midcentury design by T....Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsWalnut
- T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb Walnut Nightstands, Newly RefinishedBy Widdicomb Furniture Co., T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in South Bend, INAn exceptional pair of Mid-Century Modern Hollywood Regency nightstands By T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb USA, 1950s Walnut newly refinished in onyx, with original bra...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsBrass
- T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb Walnut Single Drawer NightstandBy Widdicomb Furniture Co., T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in New York, NYAmerican Mid-Century Modern (circa 1950) nightstand in walnut, comprised of a single recessed top drawer, a lower shelf, and tapered round nose edge detail to the frame. (T.H. ROBSJO...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsWood, Walnut
- Modern Fine 18 Karat Yellow Gold Rectangular Link BraceletLocated in Poitiers, FRBracelet in 18 karat yellow gold, eagle head hallmark. This fine pre-owned yellow gold bracelet features interlocking rectangular links. The clasp is a spring ring. Length : 18,5 cm ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Modern Bracelets
MaterialsGold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
- TIFFANY & Co. Platinum .12ct Solitaire Diamond Pendant NecklaceBy Tiffany & Co.Located in Los Angeles, CATIFFANY & Co. Platinum .12ct Solitaire Diamond Pendant Necklace Metal: Platinum Chain: 16" Pendant: 3.25mm wide Diamond: round brilliant diamond, carat total weight .12 Hallmark: "©...Category
2010s American Pendant Necklaces
MaterialsDiamond, Platinum
- GIA Certified Peter Suchy Diamond Halo Rose Gold Engagement RingBy Peter SuchyLocated in Stamford, CTPeter Suchy Vintage Inspired 14k rose gold halo Diamond engagement ring. GIA certified .51ct center Diamond F, SI1, surrounded by 0.25ct of F, VS full cut Diamonds. 1 round brillian...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Engagement Rings
MaterialsDiamond, 14k Gold, Rose Gold, Gold
- Cartier Love Earring Yellow Gold 12mm SingleBy CartierLocated in Aventura, FLCartier LOVE single earring, yellow gold 750/1000. Diameter 12 mm. Sold individually. Details: Brand: Cartier Style: Love Earring Material: Yellow Gold (750/1000) Diameter: 12mm The...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modernist Hoop Earrings
MaterialsYellow Gold
- 18k Gold Unique Diamond Earrings Diamond Bar EarringsBy Oshi JewelsLocated in Bangkok, THUnique Diamond Earrings are made of 18k solid gold. Available in three colors of gold: White Gold / Rose Gold / Yellow Gold. These Dainty Stud ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Thai Modern Stud Earrings
MaterialsDiamond, Rose Gold, White Gold, Yellow Gold, 18k Gold