Classical Greek Furniture
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.
1990s Italian Classical Greek Furniture
Marble
1990s Italian Classical Greek Furniture
Marble
2010s Turkish Classical Greek Furniture
Statuary Marble
Mid-20th Century Classical Greek Furniture
Marble
20th Century French Classical Greek Furniture
Composition
1990s Italian Classical Greek Furniture
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Classical Greek Furniture
Statuary Marble, Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Classical Greek Furniture
Marble
19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Furniture
Bronze
Early 1900s Antique Classical Greek Furniture
Brass
2010s Turkish Classical Greek Furniture
Statuary Marble
Early 1900s Antique Classical Greek Furniture
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Classical Greek Furniture
Marble, Limestone
1990s European Classical Greek Furniture
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Classical Greek Furniture
Statuary Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Classical Greek Furniture
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Classical Greek Furniture
Statuary Marble
Late 19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Furniture
Ormolu
Late 20th Century Classical Greek Furniture
Marble, Bronze
19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Furniture
Marble, Ormolu
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Classical Greek Furniture
Statuary Marble
19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Furniture
Bronze
20th Century Greek Classical Greek Furniture
Bronze
1990s Italian Classical Greek Furniture
Marble
1920s Italian Vintage Classical Greek Furniture
Limestone, Wrought Iron
2010s Italian Classical Greek Furniture
Concrete, Metal
Late 19th Century Antique Classical Greek Furniture
Alabaster
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Classical Greek Furniture
Wood
1920s Vintage Classical Greek Furniture
Silver Plate
Late 20th Century French Classical Greek Furniture
Pottery
Late 20th Century French Classical Greek Furniture
Resin
Mid-20th Century Greek Classical Greek Furniture
Terracotta, Paint
Late 20th Century Italian Classical Greek Furniture
Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Classical Greek Furniture
Marble
1990s Italian Classical Greek Furniture
Marble
2010s Turkish Classical Greek Furniture
Statuary Marble, Marble
Late 20th Century Classical Greek Furniture
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century Italian Classical Greek Furniture
Alabaster, Marble
20th Century Italian Classical Greek Furniture
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Classical Greek Furniture
Statuary Marble
Early 20th Century American Classical Greek Furniture
Brass, Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Classical Greek Furniture
Statuary Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Classical Greek Furniture
Statuary Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Classical Greek Furniture
Statuary Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Classical Greek Furniture
Statuary Marble
2010s Turkish Classical Greek Furniture
Statuary Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Classical Greek Furniture
Statuary Marble
19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Furniture
Bronze
20th Century French Classical Greek Furniture
Composition
19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Furniture
Iron, Metal
15th Century and Earlier Greek Antique Classical Greek Furniture
Pottery
Late 19th Century Antique Classical Greek Furniture
Bronze
Early 2000s Greek Classical Greek Furniture
Brass
15th Century and Earlier Greek Antique Classical Greek Furniture
Pottery
Late 19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Furniture
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Classical Greek Furniture
Gold
15th Century and Earlier Greek Antique Classical Greek Furniture
Pottery
2010s Italian Classical Greek Furniture
Silver