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.
Vtg Blue & White Geometric Greek Key Cotton Flatweave Kilim Area Rug Carpet 6x9'
Located in Dayton, OH
A handwoven cotton Greek key dhurrie rug. It features a classic meander border motif paired with a central lattice grid design in navy blue and off-white/beige. Dimensions: 68" x 101"
Cotton
Artistic Long And Narrow Size Antique Greek Embroidery Textile 1'8" x 10'9"
Located in New York, NY
Gorgeous 17th Century Antique Italian Silk Embroidery Textile, Country of Origin: Italy, Circa Date: 17th Century
Wool
1920s Classic Greek Key Antique Peking Large Room Size Wool Blue Navy Rug
Located in New York, NY
Antique Peking Large Room Size Wool Blue Navy Rug, Country of Origin: China, Circa Date: 1920s. This magnificent example of early 20th-century weaving exemplifies the refined eleganc...
Wool
1870s Coral Medallion Antique Chinese Peking Carpet 12'4"x14'6" Knotted Wool Rug
Located in New York, NY
Antique Peking Room Size Wool Yellow Rug, Circa Date: 1875. This exceptional Chinese textile, dating from the late Qing Dynasty, exemplifies the refined aesthetic of Peking court wea...
Wool
1920s White Antique Classic Chinoiserie Greek Key Chinese Peking Room Size Rug
Located in New York, NY
Antique Chinese Peking Rug, Size: 10'0" x 13'2" Rectangle Antique 1920s Chinese – Peking Wool Blue Knotted Room Size Rug, Circa Date: 1920s. This exceptional example of early 20th-ce...
Wool
Rare Long And Narrow Antique Geek Embroidered Textile 2'2" x 9'7"
Located in New York, NY
A Rare Long And Narrow Antique Geek Embroidered Textile, Circa: 19th Century, Origin: Anafi, Cyclades- Greece
Wool
1890s Blue Ivory Medallion Antique Chinese Peking Rug 9' 0" x 11' 6" Wool Carpet
Located in New York, NY
Antique Chinese Peking rug, size: 9'0" x 11'6". Rectangle 1890s Chinese Blue Antique Room Size - Peking Wool Knotted Rug, Circa Date: 1890s. This magnificent example of late 19th-ce...
Wool
1920s Black Greek Key Indian Cotton Dhurrie Carpet 8'3"X12'9" Flatwoven Wool Rug
Located in New York, NY
Early 20th Century Indian Cotton Dhurrie Carpet ( 8'3" X 12'9" - 252 X 388 ) Black, or in this case, charcoal, Dhurries, are uncommon. The broad rose and grahite nested square wave f...
Wool
1920s Beige Medallion Floral Antique Chinese Carpet 9'6"x11'2" Knotted Wool Rug
Located in New York, NY
Early 20th Century Chinese Carpet ( 9'6" x 11'2" - 290 x 340 ) Antique Chinese Room Size Wool Camel, Red Rug, Circa Date: 1920s. This exceptional example of early 20th-century Chine...
Wool
New Modern Earth-Tone Turkish Oushak Carpet with Transitional Tribal Style
Located in Dallas, TX
53603 New Modern Earth-Tone Turkish Oushak Rug, 10'07 x 13'02. Soft as desert wind and radiant with the warmth of sun-kissed clay, this hand-knotted wool modern Turkish Oushak rug un...
Wool
1950s Red Ground Figural Pattern Vintage Silk & Gold Thread Chinese Embroidery
Located in New York, NY
Vintage Textile Chinese Allover Red 1950s Rug, Circa Date: 1950s. This exceptional piece is not a traditional pile carpet but a finely embroidered textile, offering a vivid example o...
Textile, Silk
1920s Navy Cranes Cloud Bands Antique Chinese Peking Carpet 3'2"x11'8" Wool Rug
Located in New York, NY
1920s Chinese Peking Carpet ( 3'2" x 11'8" - 97 x 357 ) On the rich navy ground, a two story pavilion rises on a wisp of cloud from a layered mountain, while birds wheel above among ...
Wool
1900s Camel Classic Swastika Medallion Antique Chinese Peking Hand-knotted Rug
Located in New York, NY
Antique Peking Chinese Medallion Beige 1900s Rug, Circa Date: 1900s. This exceptional piece exemplifies the geometric precision and symbolic artistry characteristic of early 20th-cen...
Wool
1900s Beige Field Open Field Medallion Classic Deco Antique Chinese Peking Rug
Located in New York, NY
Antique Peking Chinese Medallion Beige 1900s Beige Rug, Circa Date: 1900s. This exceptional Chinese Peking rug exemplifies the sophisticated aesthetic that dominated the early 20th c...
Wool
1890s Blue Ground Scattered Floral Sprays Antique Chinese Peking Knotted Rug
Located in New York, NY
Antique Peking Chinese Medallion Blue 1890s Blue Rug, Circa Date: 1890s. This exceptional example of late 19th-century Chinese weaving presents a dramatic, nearly monochromatic field...
Wool
1900s Antique Chinese Traditional Classic Greek Key Mongolian Wool Yellow Rug
Located in New York, NY
Antique Chinese - Mongolian Small Scatter Size Wool Yellow Rug, Circa Date: 1900s. This exceptional piece from the early 20th century exemplifies the bold, graphic style characterist...
Wool
Modern Greek Key Hand Knotted Rug in Beige and Brown Color
By Nasiri
Located in New York, NY
Our "Olympia" Greek Key decorative rug is hand-knotted, and made with the finest hand-spun wool. The Classic Greek Key motif takes on a modern look in this low pile rug. Custom sizes...
Wool
Rugs On Net Antique Chinese Peking Carpet
Located in New York, NY
1920s Chinese Peking Carpet ( 9'' x 12' - 275 x 365 ) Antique Yellow / Gold Orange Rectangle Wool 1920s Hand Knotted Pile Rug, Circa Date: 1920s. This exceptional Chinese Peking car...
Wool
New Modern Turkish Oushak Carpet with Transitional Style, Whispers of Anatolia
Located in Dallas, TX
52801 New Modern Oushak Turkish Rug, 10'04 x 14'05. This hand-knotted wool modern Turkish Oushak rug blossoms with an ancient soul wrapped in a refreshed palette—its sea salt colored...
Wool
New Modern Turkish Oushak Rug with Traditional Style
Located in Dallas, TX
76891 New Modern Azure Turkish Oushak Rug, 09'02 x 12'11. Awash in the serenity of sunlit skies and ancient sands, this hand knotted wool modern Turkish Oushak rug carries the whispe...
Wool
1920s Navy Field Medallion Floral Greek Key Antique Chinese Peking Rug
Located in New York, NY
Early 20th Century Chinese Peking Carpet ( 8' x 9'6" - 245 x 290 ) Hand Knotted Pile 1920s Antique Wool Blue Rectangle Flora...
Wool
1920s Navy Vase Floral Antique Chinese Baotou Scholars Carpet 4'x 5'10" Wool Rug
Located in New York, NY
Early 20th Century Chinese Baotou Scholars Carpet ( 4' x 5'10" - 122 x 178 ) Antique Chinese – Baotou Blue 1920s Rug, Circa Date: 1920s. This exceptional example of early 20th-centu...
Wool
$7,784Sale Price|20% Off
New Modern Colorful Light Blue Oushak Carpet with Transitional Style
Located in Dallas, TX
80921 New Modern Colorful Oushak Rug, 10'00 x 13'08. This hand-knotted wool modern Oushak rug is a painter’s reverie in textile form—a serene landscape where color drifts like mornin...
Wool
New Modern Turkish Oushak Carpet with Transitional Style
Located in Dallas, TX
53515 New Modern Turkish Oushak Rug,09'00 x 11'08. Bathed in the hush of clouded skies and the hush of Anatolian twilight, this hand-knotted wool modern Turkish Oushak rug conjures a...
Wool
1920s Antique Square Blue Geometric Greek Key Chinese Baotou Wool Pile Rug
Located in New York, NY
Early 20th Century N. Chinese Baotou Carpet ( 6'2" x 6'10" - 188 x 208 ) Antique Square Baotou Wool Blue Rug, Country of Origin: China, Circa Date: 1920s. This exceptional piece ex...
Wool
1900s Antique Large Chinese Diamond Grid Purple Baotou Knotted Runner Rug
Located in New York, NY
Early 20th Century Chinese Baotou Carpet ( 5'1" x 17'7" - 155 x 536 ) Antique Large Chinese Purple Baotou Knotted Rug, Circa Date: 1900s. This exceptional Chinese runner, originat...
Wool
1920s Beige Geometric Antique Indian Cotton Dhurrie Carpet 3'8"x6'3" Flatweave
Located in New York, NY
The tan-gold field displays a three column quasi-Turkmen gul design delineated in medium blue with lesser cruciform minor guls. Beige and tan square wave b...
Cotton
1900s Blue Medallion Antique Chinese Peking Rug 9'x11' 4'' Handwoven Wool Carpet
Located in New York, NY
Antique Chinese Peking rug, Size: 9' 0'' x11' 4''. Antique Peking Chinese Medallion Blue 1900s Blue Rug, Circa Date: 1900s. This exemplary Peking rug, woven during the early 20th ce...
Wool
$2,400Sale Price|20% Off
Ivory Antique Turkish Ghiordes Rug
Located in New York, NY
An early 20th-century antique Turkish Ghiordes rug. 4' x 5'9''
Wool
$1,800Sale Price|20% Off
Turkish Ghiordes Rug
Located in New York, NY
Exquisite Turkish ghiordes weave. Ivory field with splashes of raspberry and celadon green.
Wool
1920s Blue Medallion Antique Chinese Peking Dragon Greek Key Knotted Wool Rug
Located in New York, NY
Early 20th Century Chinese Peking Dragon Carpet ( 4'2" x 6'3" - 127 x 191 ) Blue Wool Antique Rectangle Hand Knotted Pile 1920s Rug, Circa Date: 1920s. This exquisite piece exempli...
Wool
1900s Brown Medallion Antique Chinese Mongolian Rug 5' 9''x7' 10'' Wool Carpet
Located in New York, NY
Antique Chinese - Mongolian Rug 5' 9''x7' 10'' Antique Chinese - Mongolian Small Scatter Size Wool Brown Rug, Circa Date: 1900s. This exceptional piece represents the unique weaving...
Wool
1920s Blue Geometric Antique India Cotton Dhurrie Carpet 16'x23'6" Flatweave Rug
Located in New York, NY
This mansion-sized all cotton flat-weave shows a light blue field divided into a hexagon lattice with individual cells each containing a flower. Straw yellow accents. Squared wave border. This antique Indian piece...
Cotton
1930s Yellow Shabby Chic Chinese Gallery Carpet 9'2"x25'6" Knotted Wool Rug
Located in New York, NY
1930s Chinese Gallery Carpet ( 9'2" x 25'6" - 279 x 777 ) Antique Oversized Chinese Chinese Knotted Rug, Country of Origin: China, Circa Date: 1930s. This exceptional piece exemplif...
Wool
New Modern Turkish Oushak Carpet with Traditional Style
Located in Dallas, TX
53969 New Modern Sky Blue Turkish Oushak Rug Runner, 02'10 x 14'09. This hand-knotted wool modern Turkish Oushak rug runner radiates a serene and ethereal charm, effortlessly blendin...
Wool
New Contemporary Blue Turkish Oushak Carpet with Modern Transitional Style
Located in Dallas, TX
52905 New Modern Blue Turkish Oushak Rug, 09'11 x 14'00. Bathed in the tranquil hues of a twilight sky, this hand-knotted wool modern Turkish Oushak rug invites the gaze to wander ac...
Wool
New Colorful Modern Turkish Oushak Carpet with Transitional Style
Located in Dallas, TX
53607 New Modern Colorful Oushak Turkish Rug, 09'02 x 12'01. Awash in a dreamlike palette of sunrise hues and meadow blooms, this hand-knotted wool modern Turkish Oushak rug sings wi...
Wool
New Contemporary Silver Mist Turkish Oushak Carpet with Modern Coastal Style
Located in Dallas, TX
53491 New Modern Oushak Turkish Rug, 09'02 x 12'05. This hand-knotted wool modern Turkish Oushak rug evokes the serenity of an Anatolian dawn, where sky and earth quietly mingle befo...
Wool
1880s Ivory Field Medallion Vase Classic Antique Chinese Peking Room Size Rug
Located in New York, NY
19th Century Chinese Peking Carpet ( 9" x 12'3" - 274 x 373 ) Chinese - Peking Ivory 1880s Antique Wool Rectangle Knotted Room Size Rug, Circa Date: 1880s. This exceptional example ...
Wool
1920s Navy Blue Dragon Classic Greek Key Antique Chinese Peking Knotted Rug
Located in New York, NY
Early 20th Century Chinese Peking Carpet ( 7'3" x 9'8 - 220 x 295 ) Hand Knotted Pile Rectangle Floral Medallion Antique Blue 1920s Wool Rug, Circa Date: 1920s. This exceptional pie...
Wool
Mid 19th Century Antique White and Blue Floral Chinese Ningxia Medallion Rug
Located in New York, NY
Mid 19th Century Chinese Ningxia Carpet ( 5'9" x 9'2" - 175 x 280 ) Antique Chinese - Ningxia Chinese Floral, Medallion Knotted Rug, Circa Date: 1850s. This exceptional mid-19th-cen...
Wool
1850s Beige Background Antique Chinese Ningxia Rug With 100 Antiques Pattern
Located in New York, NY
Mid 19th Century Chinese Ningxia Carpet with 100 Antiques Pattern ( 5' 6'' x 10' 7'' - 167 x 322 cm )
Wool
1900s Orange Medallion Antique Chinese BaoTou Rug 4'4"x7'2" Knotted Wool Carpet
Located in New York, NY
Antique Chinese - Bao Tou rug, size: 4'4" x 7'2". Antique Chinese - Baotou Ivory 1900s Rug, Country of Origin: China, Circa Date: 1900s. This exceptional exam...
Wool
1900s Blue Medallion Greek Antique Chinese Peking Rug 6' 2" x 8' 7" Wool Carpet
Located in New York, NY
Antique Chinese Peking rug, size: 6'2" x 8'7". Antique Floral Medallion Wool Hand Knotted Pile Blue 1900s Rug, Circa Date: 1900s. This exquisite example of antique rugs features a p...
Wool