Pair of Tripod Based Robsjohn-Gibbings Side Tables
View Similar Items
Pair of Tripod Based Robsjohn-Gibbings Side Tables
About the Item
- Creator:Widdicomb Furniture Co. (Manufacturer),T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 20 in (50.8 cm)Diameter: 28 in (71.12 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:Wood,Ebonized
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Newly restored ebonized finish.
- Seller Location:Hamburg, PA
- Reference Number:Seller: 80061stDibs: LU92691789752
T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings
British-born designer, interior decorator and author T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings (1905–76) 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, he had moved to New York and set up a showroom on Madison Avenue for his modern reinterpretations of classic 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 styled he designed, Robsjohn-Gibbings was guided by simplicity and timelessness. He wanted his furniture to be lived with happily.
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.
- Set of Three "Lava" Side Tables by Michael Aram, 1995By Michael AramLocated in Hamburg, PAArtisan Michael Aran Set of Three "Lava" Tables circa 1995. These Brutalist tables are sand-cast and hand-forged aluminum with a patinated bronze finish. These Giacometti-style or Pa...Category
1990s Indian Modern Side Tables
MaterialsAluminum, Bronze
- Pair of Bedside Tables with Silver X-Pulls by Paul Frankl, 1950By Paul Frankl, Johnson Furniture CompanyLocated in Hamburg, PAPair of nightstands or bedside tables with original silver metal X-pulls and white high gloss Italian finish by Paul Frankl. Newly refinished in high-quality Italian finish by Alternative Furnishings...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsMetal
- Lacquered Walnut and Stainless Steel End Tables by Vladimir Kagan for GucciBy Vladimir KaganLocated in Hamburg, PAA luxurious lacquered walnut, stainless steel, and leather end table by Vladimir Kagan for Gucci. There are three available each side table is...Category
1990s American Modern End Tables
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Designer "Topiary" Table Base by Richard Schultz for Knoll, 1996By Knoll, Richard SchultzLocated in Hamburg, PAA whimsical "Topiary" collection dining table designed by Richard Schultz for Knoll. This collection was produced in 1996 and is a fun design for any garden or patio. This dining table is made by a technique that involves bending, stamping, and folding sheets of aluminum. The "Topiary" table base is fitted with wheels for easy transportation. The dining table is powder-coated in a lovely mint green color. The table is structurally sound and in very good condition. Glass is not included. Two tables are available. "Topiary" collection dining chairs are available in another listing. Special note: The pair of topiary...Category
1990s American Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
MaterialsAluminum
- Asian Apothecary Side Tables or End Tables, 20th CenturyLocated in Hamburg, PAA unique pair of Chinese Apothecary Sidetables or Bedside Tables with multi-drawers made of Elmwood, Chinese paper, and brass medallion hardware or drawer pulls. The Asian cabinets o...Category
Late 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
MaterialsBrass
- Pair of Coral Toned Harrison Van Horn Linen Wrapped Bedside Tables, 1980sBy Harrison Van HornLocated in Hamburg, PAA lovely pair of linen-wrapped coral-tone bedside tables or nightstands attributed to Harrison Van Horn. These bedside tables have a great size and scale and would look great in any ...Category
Vintage 1980s American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsChrome
- Pair of T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings Walnut Single Drawer Open Compartment SideBy Widdicomb Furniture Co., T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in New York, NYPAIR of American Mid-Century walnut end / side tables with an open compartment above a single lower drawer with a rounded walnut bar drawer pull with tapered brushed chrome caps at e...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsMetal, Chrome
- 3 T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings Walnut Parsons Design End Side TablesBy Widdicomb Furniture Co., T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in New York, NY3 American mid-century square Parsons-style walnut end / side tables. (T.H. ROBSJOHN-GIBBINGS FOR WIDDICOMB FURNITURE CO.)(PRICED EACH)Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsWood, Walnut
- T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb Tripod Occasional TableBy T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in Denton, TXJax table with ebonized base and creamy ivory leather top.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsLeather, Wood
- Pair of Klismos Leg Side Tables by T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsBy T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in Atlanta, GAKlismos leg side tables, designed by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb, American, circa 1950s. ONLY ONE IS AVAILABLE.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsWalnut
- Pair of Robsjohn Gibbings for Widdicomb End or Side TablesBy T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in Chicago, ILA strong pair of Robsjohn Gibbings designed black end or side tables. These need to be refinished. "Original Black" finish is worn. Price is for the PAIR.Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsWood
- T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings Magazine Table for WiddicombBy Widdicomb Furniture Co., T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in Littleton, COA recently and handsomely refinished magazine table by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb Furniture Co. in mahogany. A table top for a lamp, drinks and decorative items floats a...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsWood
$1,195 Sale Price44% Off