Lacquered Chest by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb
View Similar Items
Lacquered Chest by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb
About the Item
- Creator:T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 21.5 in (54.61 cm)Width: 67 in (170.18 cm)Depth: 21.5 in (54.61 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:c. 1960's
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: 14060480601902
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.
- Platform Chest by Lawson-FenningBy Lawson-FenningLocated in Los Angeles, CAThe Platform chest is a six drawer chest with a solid American walnut or white oak front and base. The Lawson-Fenning Collection is designed and handmade in Los Angeles, Californ...Category
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsWalnut
$5,985 / item - Platform Chest by Lawson-FenningBy Lawson-FenningLocated in Los Angeles, CAThe Platform chest is a six drawer chest with a solid American walnut or white oak front and base, with scribed drawers. The Lawson-Fenning Collection is designed and handmade in ...Category
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsOak
$5,985 / item - 4-Drawer Arcadia Chest by Lawson-FenningBy Lawson-FenningLocated in Los Angeles, CAThe 4-drawer Arcadia chest features four drawers, cast brass hardware, and a sculptural solid American walnut or white oak base. The Lawson-Fenning Collection is designed and han...Category
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsBrass
$6,785 / item - 4-Drawer Arcadia Chest by Lawson-FenningBy Lawson-FenningLocated in Los Angeles, CAThe 4-drawer Arcadia chest features four drawers, cast brass hardware, and a sculptural solid American walnut or white oak base. The Lawson-Fenning Collection is designed and han...Category
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsBrass
$6,785 / item - Stacked Box Chest by Lawson-FenningBy Lawson-FenningLocated in Los Angeles, CAThe stacked box chest is a larger modified version of the stacked box nightstand. The piece features three drawers and an inset detail that can be fi...Category
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsOak
$4,385 / item - 4-Drawer Arcadia Chest by Lawson-FenningBy Lawson-FenningLocated in Los Angeles, CAThe 4-drawer Arcadia chest features four drawers, cast brass hardware, and a sculptural solid American walnut or white oak base. The Lawson-Fenning Collection is designed and handm...Category
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsBrass
$6,785 / item
- Mahogany Cabinet by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for WiddicombBy Widdicomb Furniture Co., T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in Dorchester, MAT.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings designed this handsome mahogany cabinet for the Widdicomb Furniture Company. The solidly built case has three roomy center drawers with linear wooden pulls and additional shelving behind doors...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Credenzas
MaterialsMahogany
- Six Drawer Teak Chest/Dresser by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for WiddicombBy Widdicomb Furniture Co., T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in San Francisco, CAGreat six drawer double dresser/credenza designed by T.H. Robsjohn Gibbings for Widdicomb Furniture in teak. The chest features two banks of three drawers, including dividers in a co...Category
Mid-20th Century English Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsTeak
- T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb Chest of DrawersBy Widdicomb Furniture Co., T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in New York, NYT.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb Fuirniture Co. dresser or chest of drawers in dark stained walnut with four circular woven rattan handles and brass end caps ending on tapering b...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsBrass
- T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb Chest of DrawersBy Widdicomb Furniture Co., T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in Brooklyn, NYClassic T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb 6-drawer cabinet in beautiful original finish dark walnut, with brass legs, and raffia cane wrapped handles. Signed with cloth Widdicomb ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsCane, Walnut
- Cane, Brass and Lacquered Wood Chest by T.H. Robsjohn Gibbings for WiddicombBy Widdicomb Furniture Co., T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in New York City, NYMinimal design with thoughtful detailing. The brass on the legs and handles is beautifully patinated and the cane encasing the handles is tightly woven and in excellent condition.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsBrass
- T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings Designed Tall Chest, by WiddicombBy Widdicomb Furniture Co., T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in West Palm Beach, FLA T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings designed tall chest, fitted with five concealed long drawers by manufactured by Widdicomb furniture company. A sleek iconic work, ready to place. Beautiful c...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsWalnut