British-born designer, interior decorator and author T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings 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, Robsjohn-Gibbings had moved to New York and set up a showroom on Madison Avenue for his modern reinterpretations of Classical 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 style he designed, Robsjohn-Gibbings was guided by simplicity and timelessness. He wanted his furniture to be lived with happily.
Find antique T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings coffee tables, dining tables, credenzas and other furniture on 1stDibs.
T.H Robsjohn- Gibbings Klismos Chairs
By T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A pair of Robsjohn-Gibbings Klismos Chairs Executed in Walnut and Leather by Saridis A beautiful re-interpretation of an ancient form Original Finish One chair with impressed number ...
Walnut
$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 T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Saridis
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
$12,000
H 35 in W 20.5 in D 21 in
T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Saridis Klismos Chairs in Walnut with Leather Thongs
By Saridis, T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings
Located in St. Louis, MO
Single T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings Klismos chair for Saridis of Athens, Greece in Greek walnut and leather woven seats. This chair was part of the collection he designed for Saridis of Athens in 1961, inspired by the drawings he saw on ancient Greek vases. The Klismos chairs features a graceful curving back and sable curved legs. The woven seat is made of leather straps / thongs which are tight around the walnut frame. The design beholds Robsjohn-Gibbings’ philosophy of furniture design that is independent of time. Manufacturer's metal label DESIGNED BY T.H.ROBSJOHN-GIBBINGS / Manufactured by saridis of athens. Serial # 9544 &. Please note that the item has been lightly restored by restoration atelier. Some signs of age and use are still visible. 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 century, 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. Its simple but opulent curves hint at sleek penthouses with butlers who serve cocktails on the terrace at sunset. (Indeed, Robsjohn-Gibbings’s Saridis...
Leather, Walnut
Robsjohn-Gibbings Klismos Side Chairs
By T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Robsjohn-Gibbings by Saridis Klismos side chairs.
Muslin, Walnut
Brookhaven Chair by American Studio Craft Artist David N. Ebner
By David N. Ebner
Located in Bellport, NY
The Brookhaven chair, in red oak, by American studio craft artist David N. Ebner. Available in alternate woods. Note: All works signed by the artis...
Oak
T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings Klismos Chairs by Saridis, Athens
By T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings
Located in Riverdale, NY
Classically elegant and beautifully proportioned T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings Klismos chairs with original woven leather strap seats, 1960s, produced...
Leather, Walnut
T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings Klismos Chairs by Saridis, Athens
By T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Saridis
Located in Riverdale, NY
Classically elegant and beautifully proportioned T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings Klismos chairs with original woven leather strap seats, 1960s, produced by Saridis of Athens. TWO available in...
Leather, Wood
Mid-century modern bentwood chairs with cane seats and backs
Located in Linkebeek, BE
Bentwood furniture - Desk Chair Measures : 52,5x56,5cm H:85cm SH:39cm The frame is made of bentwood, stained and varnished. The seat and back are caned. The design is characteristic...
Cane, Wood
Kipp Stewart Athens Klismos Chair
By Kipp Stewart & Stewart MacDougall
Located in Miami, FL
A beautiful Klismos "Athens" chair designed by Stewart MacDougall for Glenn Of California.
Wood
Aesthetic Movement Side Chair George Jakob Hunzinger. Late 1800s
By George Hunzinger
Located in Chula Vista, CA
For your consideration, an Aesthetic Movement side chair designed by the notable 19th-century American furniture maker George Jakob Hunzinger. Crafted or designed by George Jakob Hu...
Wood
