Pair of Ebony Klismos Chairs
View Similar Items
Pair of Ebony Klismos Chairs
About the Item
- Creator:T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 33.86 in (86 cm)Width: 21.07 in (53.5 cm)Depth: 29.53 in (75 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1920
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Minor structural damages.
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU9156236329862
T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings
British-born designer, interior decorator and author T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings 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, Robsjohn-Gibbings had moved to New York and set up a showroom on Madison Avenue for his modern reinterpretations of Classical 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 style he designed, Robsjohn-Gibbings was guided by simplicity and timelessness. He wanted his furniture to be lived with happily.
Find antique T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings coffee tables, dining tables, credenzas and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- German Inlaid Mahogany Centre TableLocated in London, GBThis 19th-century German Mahogany Inlaid Center Table is a striking blend of timeless design and intricate craftsmanship. Its circular form, rich mahogany, and captivating inlaid mot...Category
Antique 19th Century German Center Tables
MaterialsMahogany
- Pair of Regency Klismos ChairsBy Gillows of Lancaster & LondonLocated in Richmond, LondonA very chic Regency period pair of 'Klismos' chairs with Greek key decoration to the backs, attributable to Gillows of Lancaster and London, England, circa 1805. Why we like them T...Category
Antique Early 19th Century English Regency Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Hardwood
$2,827 / set - Set of Four Klismos Form Side ChairsBy T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in Cathedral City, CAFour Greek ceruse finish Klismos chairs with a splat back and a seat with leather straps.Category
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Wood
$9,600 / set - Robsjohn-Gibbings Klismos Side ChairsBy T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in Los Angeles, CARobsjohn-Gibbings by Saridis Klismos side chairs.Category
21st Century and Contemporary Greek Chairs
MaterialsMuslin, Walnut
Price Upon Request - Pair of Regency Painted Klismos ChairsBy Thomas HopeLocated in Richmond, LondonA fine pair of bronze-painted and gilt side chairs of Klismos form English, circa 1825. Why we like them A timeless Klismos design, bea...Category
Antique Early 19th Century English Regency Chairs
MaterialsWood, Upholstery
$3,546 Sale Price / set44% Off - Pair of MCM Klismos Side ChairsBy Abrahams BrothersLocated in Dallas, TXUnique, charming form, cheerful style, nice proportions.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsWood
$1,850 / set - Pair of Italian Carved Klismos ChairsLocated in West Palm Beach, FLStunning pair of Italian carved Klismos chairs with cardinal red silk velvet Scalamandre fabric seats.Category
20th Century Italian Louis XV Side Chairs
MaterialsVelvet, Wood
$1,850 / set