T. H. Robsjohn Gibbings for Widdicomb Black Lacquer Chest with Solid Brass Pulls
About the Item
- Creator:T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings (Designer),Widdicomb Furniture Co. (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 32.75 in (83.19 cm)Width: 54 in (137.16 cm)Depth: 20.38 in (51.77 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Refinished. Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Dallas, TX
- Reference Number:
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.
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: Dallas, TX
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- T. H. Robsjohn Gibbings for Widdicomb Black Lacquer Chest with Solid Brass PullsBy T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Widdicomb Furniture Co.Located in Dallas, TXA beautifully restored cabinet by Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb. This is a classic and quite substantial. We have expertly black lacquered. Pulls are solid brass and have been poli...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsBrass
- A Pair of T. H. Robsjohn Gibbings for Widdicomb Black Lacquer and Brass ChestsBy T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Widdicomb Furniture Co.Located in Dallas, TXA pair of beautifully restored cabinet by Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb. This is a classic and quite substantial. We have expertly black lacquered. Pulls are solid brass and have b...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsBrass
- T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings Rare Sideboard or Cabinet in Walnut, Rattan and BrassBy T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Widdicomb Furniture Co.Located in Dallas, TXT.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb rare 1950s sideboard or cabinet in rich deep walnut including central drawers with original circular woven rattan handles and brass end caps, cab...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
MaterialsBrass
- Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb Klismos Leg Side or Cocktail TableBy T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Widdicomb Furniture Co.Located in Dallas, TXMid-Century Modern walnut klismos leg coffee table or cocktail table designed by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb furniture. Elegant and graceful square top with a two-tier desig...Category
Mid-20th Century North American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsWood
- Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb Side Table in Walnut, Brass and Cane, 1950sBy T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in Dallas, TXA Mid-Century Modern side cabinet by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb. Walnut with cane wrapped handles and brass legs. Circa 1950. Sometimes used as a side table or a nightstand.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Mid Century Walnut Dresser with Brass Pulls and TrimLocated in Dallas, TXThis is a lovely clean lined mid-century dresser made very well. The handles and trim are solid brass and we have polished them to bring back their old glory. A beautiful piece for a...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsBrass
- Robsjohn Gibbings for Widdicomb Dresser Bachelors ChestBy T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Widdicomb Furniture Co.Located in New York, NYSophisticated tailored design three drawer chest designed by T. H. Robsjohn Gibbings for Widdicomb circa 1950/1960’s. The dresser features three deep drawers, each having a dowel form pull, and a picture frame molding cabinet...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsWood
- Pair of T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb ChestsBy T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Widdicomb Furniture Co.Located in St. Louis, MOPair of T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb four drawer chests with dowel handles. Shown in original finish, price includes refinishing as shown, or custom color options available. ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsWalnut
- T.H. Robsjohn Gibbings for Widdicomb MidCentury Modern Bachelor ChestBy T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Widdicomb Furniture Co.Located in New York, NYA four drawer dresser by TH Robsjohn Gibbibgs for Widdicomb. USA, circa 1940s/50s. Signed with fabric label. Dimensions: 31" x 35" x 20 1/2"Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsWalnut
- Pair of White Lacquer Gibbings for Widdicomb Dressers Bachelor Chests Brass PullBy T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in Rockaway, NJPair of iconic Mid-Century Modern bachelor chests dressers cabinets designed by Robsjohn Gibbings for Widdicomb. Heavy solid brass ring drawer pulls.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsWalnut
- Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb Walnut Dresser with Brass Legs, Newly RefinishedBy T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Widdicomb Furniture Co.Located in South Bend, INAn exceptional Mid-Century Modern six-drawer long dresser or credenza By T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb USA, 1950s Book-matched walnut, with sculpted walnut drawer pul...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsBrass
- TH Robsjohn Gibbings Chest for Widdicomb in Mahogany Cane Handles & Brass LegsBy T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Widdicomb Furniture Co.Located in Dallas, TX1950s Widdicomb Cabinet designed by TH Robsjohn Gibbings and fully restored in a deep espresso stain with a satin lacquer finish over the original mahogany. All of the solid brass ha...Category
Mid-20th Century American Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsBrass