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.
Pair of Rare Teak Klismos Chairs by Ashley Hicks Jantar Mantar Collection 1999
By Ashley Hicks
Located in Fort Lauderdale, FL
Pair of Rare Teak Klismos Chairs by Ashley Hicks Jantar Mantar Collection 1999. From UK-based Ashley Hicks premier collection of furniture, the Jantar Mantar Klismos side chairs were...
Leather, Teak
$4,650 / set
Pair of Italian Hollywood Regency Klismos Chairs
Located in Houston, TX
Stunning pair of Italian Hollywood Regency klismos style chairs. These chic high style Italian side chairs are painted a soft gray/green with gilt accents and have great splayed legs or saber legs. Our vintage Klismos chairs...
Wood
Rare Pair of Thonet Chairs Model 110
By Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbH
Located in Vienna, AT
Simple and elegant beech/plywood construction from the 1890s. Original condition Singed on the frame. Two pieces available. Price for both
Beech, Plywood
Unavailable|$3,995 / set
H 33 in W 20.75 in D 22 in
Pair of Regency Styled Side or Accent Chairs with Reclining Nude & Swan Panels
Located in Hamilton, Ontario
This pair of antique chairs are unsigned, but presumed to have originated from the United States and date to approximately 1920 and done in a Regency, or Hollywood Regency style. The...
Cane, Pine
Pair of Italian Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
Located in Buchanan, NY
A sophisticated pair of 1950s Italian sidechairs in green leather with wicker backs and brass detailing. Add some classic mid-century modern elegance to your home with this gorgeous pair of 1950s Italian side chairs...
Upholstery
Rare Pair of Side Chairs by Carlo Bugatti
Located in Montreal, QC
Rare pair of side chair by Carlo Bugatti made of ebonized wood, upholstered with parchment and inlaid with pewter details and mounted with hammered copper decorations. Italy: circ...
Walnut
$6,300Sale Price / set|28% Off
H 39 in W 23.5 in D 17 in
Pair of Italian Neoclassical Style Backless Hall Chairs
Located in Rio Vista, CA
Opulent pair of Italian hall chairs made in the neoclassical style. The chairs feature a backless design having decorative molded raised arms ending with large greek keys topped...
Faux Leather, Wood
$21,500 / set
H 35.44 in W 29.93 in D 22.84 in
Early Matching Pair, T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings Klismos Chairs for Saridis of Athens
By Saridis, T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings
Located in Dronten, NL
Exceptional pair of early Klismos chairs by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Saridis of Athens, crafted in dark-stained walnut and retaining their original character and authenticity throu...
Leather, Walnut
Hollywood Regency Vintage Italian Gilt Iron Sculptural Chair
By S. Salvadori
Located in Moreno Valley, CA
1960s vintage Italian Hollywood Regency gilt iron vanity chair. Petite Italian vanity side chair in gold gilt wrought iron, light weight and perfectl...
Iron
Early 19th Century Italian Klismos Chair
Located in Gloucestershire, GB
A rather wonderful, shapely early 19th Century Italian painted Klismos chair. Circa 1820. The deeply curved top rail decorated with a classical Greek Key design, above beautifully c...
Linen, Wood, Paint
$4,975 / set
H 34 in W 18.5 in D 20.75 in
Pair of English Regency Side Chairs attributed to Morel & Hughes, circa 1815
By Morel and Hughes
Located in Kinderhook, NY
Pair of circa 1815 English Regency period side chairs attributed to renowned cabinetmakers Morel & Hughes having parcel-gilt and gilt-metal mounted rosewood 'klismos-form' frames; th...
Ormolu
Fine Quality Chrome Klismos Style Chair
Located in Bridgeport, CT
A fine polished chrome klismos style chair with heavy construction. With the elegant and classic curved back and curved tapering square supports a...
Chrome
Pair of Klismos Early 19th Century Ebonized Side Chairs
Located in New York, NY
Pair of Klismos Early 19th Century ebonized side chairs. Ebonized wood.
Wood
Pair of High Back Italian Chairs
Located in Brooklyn, NY
beautiful pair of italian chairs in lacquered wood from the 1950's located in NY original condition
Wood, Straw
Pair Baker Furniture Regency Dining Chairs with Klismos Legs
Located in Fort Washington, MD
Pair of regency style arm chairs by Baker furniture, circa 1960s. The British regency period was most notably influenced by the exotic Greek, Egyptian and Asian furniture to which v...
Fabric, Wood
Italian Brass Chiavari Side Chair, 1950s Hollywood Regency Style
By Chiavari
Located in Stamford, CT
Italian brass Chiavari chair. New seat cushion upholstered in vintage Waverly blue cotton fabric. Light overall unpolished patina. No makers mark or signature
Brass
Hollywood Regency Tassel-Motif White Side Chair
Located in Stamford, CT
Hollywood Regency style tassel motif side chair. Newly repainted in antique white painted finish. Newly upholstered in Schumacher woven cott...
Fabric, Wood
Sold
H 35.125 in W 23.25 in D 20 in
Klismos Athens Chair, Glenn of California, Designed by Stewart MacDougall
By Kipp Stewart & Stewart MacDougall
Located in Doraville, GA
A beautiful klismos "Athens" chair designed by Stewart MacDougall for Glenn Of California. The chair was designed probably in the 1950's to 1960's. The chair appears to be solid waln...
Fabric, Walnut
Antique Classical Empire Figural Mahogany & Ormolu Armchair, c1830
Located in Big Flats, NY
An antique Classical Empire arm chair offers mahogany construction with barrel t-back having foliate cast ormolu central mount with flanking cherubs over upholstered seat and scroll ...
Ormolu
T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings Walnut Klismos Chair, circa 1965
Located in New York, NY
T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings (1905-1976) A classical klismos style Greek walnut side chair with warm brown finish and caramel-colored leather woven seat. Executed by Saridis, Athens Signed with metal label under seat American, circa 1965 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 centuries, 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. It's simple but opulent curves hint at sleek penthouses with butlers who serve cocktails on the terrace at sunset. (Indeed, Robsjohn-Gibbings’s Saridis...
Leather, Wood
Pair of Klismos Style Side Chairs
Located in Chicago, IL
A modern take on the Greek classic, these chairs feature U-shaped barrel-like backs and deep bucket seats. Raised on square tapered legs—the front straight, while the back are splaye...
Upholstery, Walnut