Rare Klismos Chair by T.H. Robsjohn Gibbings Saridis of Athens
View Similar Items
Rare Klismos Chair by T.H. Robsjohn Gibbings Saridis of Athens
About the Item
- Creator:T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings (Designer),Sardis (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 31 in (78.74 cm)Width: 21 in (53.34 cm)Depth: 19.5 in (49.53 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:Greece
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1961
- Condition:great original.
- Seller Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: U1202068176831
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.
- T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings Klismos Chairs by Saridis, AthensBy T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in Riverdale, NYClassically elegant and beautifully proportioned T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings Klismos chairs with original woven leather strap seats, 1960s, produced...Category
Vintage 1960s Greek Greek Revival Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Walnut
$12,500 / item - T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Saridis Klismos Chairs in Walnut with Leather ThongsBy T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, SaridisLocated in St. Louis, MOSingle T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings Klismos chair for Saridis of Athens, Greece in Greek walnut and leather woven seats. This chair was part of the collection he designed for Saridis of Athens in 1961, inspired by the drawings he saw on ancient Greek vases. The Klismos chairs features a graceful curving back and sable curved legs. The woven seat is made of leather straps / thongs which are tight around the walnut frame. The design beholds Robsjohn-Gibbings’ philosophy of furniture design that is independent of time. Manufacturer's metal label DESIGNED BY T.H.ROBSJOHN-GIBBINGS / Manufactured by saridis of athens. Serial # 9544 &. Please note that the item has been lightly restored by restoration atelier. Some signs of age and use are still visible. This chair model is notably documented on the cover of "Furniture of Classical Greece," written by Robsjohn-Gibbings and Carlton W. Pullin in 1963. We love what Pilar Viladas said about this iconic design in the New York Times in 2010: "T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings’s Klismos chair looks ancient and modern at the same time — because it is. Based on ancient Greek models, which had been widely copied in the 18th and 19th century, Robsjohn-Gibbings’s version made the klismos shape famous again in the 20th century. Obsessed with its elegant lines, he designed versions of the chair throughout his career, but the most recent examples have been made by Saridis in Athens since the early 1960s, when the designer met the company’s owners and settled in the Greek capital. Its simple but opulent curves hint at sleek penthouses with butlers who serve cocktails on the terrace at sunset. (Indeed, Robsjohn-Gibbings’s Saridis...Category
Vintage 1960s Greek Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Walnut
- Early T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings Klismos Stool for Saridis of AthensBy T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, SaridisLocated in Dronten, NLThis rare Klismos stool/table was designed by T.H. Robsjohn Gibbings and produced by Saridis of Athens. This stool can function as a stool or table base by adding a glass top. This i...Category
Vintage 1960s Greek Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsLeather, Walnut
- Early T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings 'Klini' Chaise for Saridis of AthensBy T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, SaridisLocated in Dronten, NLRare early T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Saridis of Athens, ‘Klini’ chaise lounge model nr. 11, in Greek walnut with leather thong, designed 1961. An ancient Greek inspired daybed by the British designer T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings. This chaise lounge was part of the 1961 collection he designed for Saridis of Athens, inspired by the drawings he saw on ancient Greek vases. The chaise lounge features a graceful curving back and sable curved legs. The woven seat is made of leather straps which are tight around the walnut frame. The design beholds Robsjohn-Gibbings’ philosophy of furniture design that is independent of time. The stone red wool cushion was added by the owner to protect this precious piece. This is the only Klini chaise on the market labeled with the early steel manufacturer’s plaque underneath and a documented history. Provenance: the Royal Dutch Shell building designed by architect Charles Pfister. Excellent all original condition! Excerpt from pg 115 of "Furniture of Classical Greece" By T.H. Robsjohn- Gibbings and Carlton W. Pullin on the Klini chaise: "Walnut couch with leather thongs seat, a re-creation of the Greek couch...Category
Vintage 1960s Greek Mid-Century Modern Chaise Longues
MaterialsLeather, Walnut
- T.H. Robsjohn Gibbings Ladder Back Side ChairBy T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Widdicomb Furniture Co.Located in Brooklyn, NYMid-Century Modern, side chair by T.H. Robsjohn Gibbings for Widdicomb features a walnut, ladder back frame with upholstered seat in mocha tweed. A great mid century modern chair for...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Walnut
- Set of 4 T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings Klismos ChairsBy T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in New York, NYSet of 4 T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings Klismos chairs with sculptural walnut frames, double stretcher bases and newly upholstered.Category
Vintage 1950s Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Walnut
$26,000 / set