There is rare surviving furniture from ancient Greece, yet this classical style has informed design for centuries. Interiors of houses in antiquity were minimal, with much of a room’s color coming from frescoes on the walls and mosaics on the floors. Classical Greek furniture was sparing but finely crafted and influenced by Egyptian furniture design through Mediterranean trade.
Furnishings of the period were usually made from local wood like cypress, cedar, oak and willow from ancient Greece’s plentiful forests, although some pieces were carved from marble, such as a 300–200 B.C. throne with lion legs and a curved back now at the Getty Villa. Comfort and clean lines characterized designs during the Classical era, the symmetry and thoughtful proportions reflecting the architecture of Greek temples.
Some pieces of ancient Greek furniture were simple, rectangular platforms like the klinē, a multipurpose ancestor of today’s couches or daybeds that held cushions stuffed with wool, dry grass or down. These structures were used for both sleeping and dining, which wealthy Greeks did while reclining. At night, oil lamps illuminated rooms that frequently surrounded a garden courtyard.
Most of what scholars have learned about Greek furniture design owes to its representations in art like vases and stelae. The portable diphros stool, with its backless design and four turned legs, was one of the more common types of seating in daily Greek life — it appears as such for the gods on the Parthenon frieze. Stools without backs have been found in early Roman tombs, while benches were also common Greek seating furniture created for use in theaters. In houses of the Hellenistic period, benches seemingly functioned as tables, too.
Some designs evolved through adaptations by the Romans, including the klismos chair. After prominent archaeological excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum, the klismos chair — with its four saber legs and the elegant curves that define its back — was a source of inspiration for aesthetics in eras ranging from 18th-century neoclassicism to 20th-century Art Deco.
Find a collection of Classical Greek decorative objects, wall decorations and building and garden elements on 1stDibs.
Black with 24K Gold Porcelain Jar with Lid Made in Greece by Spyropoulos 1960s
Located in Moreno Valley, CA
Vintage I Spyropoulos Handmade in Greece black and 24K Gold Finish Porcelain Jar with Lid. Vintage handmade in Greece Black and 24k Gold Trinket Porcelain Dish with Lid. Greek Mythol...
Porcelain
$4,000Sale Price|20% Off
Greek Style Engraved and Chased Gold Tone Metal Large Pyxis
Located in Guaynabo, PR
This is a Greek style engraved and chased gold tone metal large Pyxis ( a cylindrical vessel/box with a lid that can be made of wood, ivory or metal). In the ancient times, it was mo...
Metal
Vintage Ceramic Baby Blue Decorative Covered Dish with Lid and White Figures
By Wedgwood
Located in Oklahoma City, OK
A round ceramic bright baby blue covered dish with a lid. This piece is round and features a figurative Mediterranean scene in white on top of a bright baby blue glazed background. T...
Ceramic, Paint
$596Sale Price|25% Off
H 2 in W 5.25 in D 4 in
Vintage Raymor Lidded Ceramic Flower Box Turquoise And White Italian, 1960's
By Raymor
Located in North Miami, FL
This lovely vintage Italian hallmarked lidded ceramic flower box by Raymor is from the 60's. The colors are turquoise, white with outlines of gray charcoal. The hallmarks read 03529 ...
Ceramic
Good Condition and Large Antique Display Box w. Beveled Glass Top
Located in Lisse, NL
Fine quality and condition, 1860s spoon box with a perfectly working silver lock and key. This handcrafted spoon box is another one of our recent great finds. It comes with beautif...
Velvet, Glass, Mirror, Wood
Handmade Antique Chess Set Regency Style Hardwood Pieces, Circa 1900
Located in Lincoln, Lincolnshire
This is a very good and complete handmade, hardwood chess set game of 32 pieces in a handmade pine box with a sliding lid, which we date to the turn of the 19th Century, Circa 1900. ...
Hardwood, Pine
$668
H 3.25 in W 20 in D 20 in
Fine Vintage Large French Polished Santos Mahogany Satinwood Folding Chess Set
Located in Dublin, Ireland
A Very Substantial Decorative French Polished Well Grained Dark Santos Mahogany and Boxwood Folding Chess Set of outstanding quality, good weight and s...
Mahogany
Large Gilt Bronze Feuille Box by Line Vautrin
By Line Vautrin
Located in Atlanta, GA
A large cast bronze powder box (poudrier) by French Parisian art jeweler Line Vautrin (1913-1997) circa 1945-1950. The box called "Feuille" (Leaf) features an irregular leaf form wit...
Bronze
Post World War II South African Hebrew Inscribed Metal School Supply Box
Located in New York, NY
Metal school supply box sent by the South Africa Jewish Wars Appeal to the Wels displaced persons (DP) camp in Austria, 1947. Painted blue and white with th...
Metal
Music Play Box, Around 1960s, Made in Switzerland
Located in Wien, Au
Music play box, around 1960s, made in Switzerland. Wood inlays. Plays " Love story " Music Hight when open: 19cm.
Wood
$960Sale Price|20% Off
H 2.63 in W 6.38 in D 3.5 in
Bronze Jewelry Box Ancient Sarcophagus Reliefs Greek Roman Caesar Gladiator
By Line Vautrin
Located in Hyattsville, MD
A wonderful heavy cast bronze, hinged/lidded box, lightly polished, and glowing. Depicting ancient relief scenes / characters of Ancient Roman or Greek...
Bronze
Vintage Sajai Metal and Agate Scroll Box Coin Purse, Handmade in India
By Rajhastani
Located in Moreno Valley, CA
Vintage Sajai metal and agate talisman box coin purse, Handmade in India, Handmade Sajai metal cross body purse with multi-colored agates and intric...
Stone, Agate, Metal
Fabergé Style Bejewelled and Enamelled Gold Egg by Asprey
By Asprey International Limited, Garrard & Co. Ltd.
Located in London, GB
This exceptional, 18 carat gold Easter egg was crafted by the famous London-based royal jewellers, Asprey & Co. The piece was then retailed by Garrard & Co, who once worked in collaboration with Asprey, producing luxury jewellery and silver for an elite clientele. The egg has been crafted from gold filigree — that is, gold wires interwoven to make a delicate lace-like pattern. The gold is arranged to form the image of a peacock, with a magnificent fanned train, composed of red, dark blue and green coloured plique-à-jour enamel. The light blue body of the peacock, and its long swirling light and dark blue tail feathers, have been crafted from intricate guilloché enamel, which is often found on Fabergé style eggs...
Gold
Large French Silvered Bronze Box Line Vautrin
By Line Vautrin
Located in Atlanta, GA
A silvered bronze poudrier box "Ammonite" by French Parisian art jeweler Line Vautrin (1913-1997). In the 1940s, Line Vautrin designed a series that was inspired by the shape of na...
Bronze
Birgit Andersson Lidded Box, Stoneware with Iron-Brown Glaze, 1960s
Located in Pasadena, CA
Stoneware lidded box designed by Birgit Andersson for L. Hjorth, Bornholm, Denmark, c. 1960s. Low, circular form with a rich iron-brown glaze accented by subtle banding at the seam a...
Ceramic