Robsjohn-Gibbings for Saridis - Pair of "trapeza" tables

Terence Howard Robsjohn-Gibbings for Saridis.
Pair of "trapeza" tables.
Walnut wood and polished bronze.
Circa 1960.

Our pair of tables was created by the famous English designer Robsjohn-Gibbings. It is a recreation of an antique table shown on a Greek kylix in the British Museum. The model of the claw legs was cast from an antique original held by the Palermo Museum. These tripod tables are often depicted on Greek vases.

An internationally renowned decorator, Robsjohn-Gibbings is known for his creations that combine the Art Deco style with the decorative repertoire of Ancient Greece. His ironic view of modern living has made him a true visionary, with his unclassifiable vision of decoration.

He began as a cruise ship decorator in London. He left the city in 1930 for New York where he worked for a dealer specialising in 18th century English furniture. When he had to go back to London in 1933, he was moved to discover the antique furniture depicted on the ancient archaeological pieces. He wrote that "on the Greek vases I saw furniture that had been spared by time. Klismos chairs were bent with the delicate grace of a new moon. Folding stools stood on deer legs. Bronze lions' claws supported tables. Vitality surged through each of these pieces of furniture."

With these new inspirations, he returned to New York in 1936 to open his own design house. His first collection was called "Sans Epoque", because he believed that the pure beauty of old traditions was eternal. In his satirical writings, which quickly became best-sellers, he opposed the modernist habitat, which he called "the skin-and-bones machine for living".

His meeting with Susan and Eleftherios Saridis was decisive. The two owners of one of the largest furniture factories in Athens allowed him to distribute his Greek-inspired furniture to an international clientele. In 1961, he created nineteen models based on representations found on archaeological finds from the 6th to 4th centuries BC, including the trapeza table.

He settled permanently in Athens in 1963 and died in 1976 surrounded by his creations in a flat overlooking the Parthenon.

Bibliography :
“U.S. Designer Looks Back to Ancient Greece to Create New Classics,” Life, vol. 51, no. 11, September 15, 1961, pp. 80-81


T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings and Carlton W. Pullin, Furniture of Classical Greece, New York, 1963, pp. 27, 100-1