Incollect Magazine - Issue 11

66 www.incollect.com Robsjohn-Gibbings’ many designs for Widdicomb remain his most accessible and in many ways enduring legacy — there is simply a lot more of it available on the market, though as with all vintage furniture the condition is everything. Among the most prized items are chairs and sofas with woven canvas webbing, such as his Lounge Chair, c. 1955, model 1720, made of bleached walnut and woven canvas webbing on offer at Converso. “His work always inspires me,” says Lawrence Converso. Prized also is his tripod table lamp, model 170, in brass with three bulbs and shade for Hansen Lighting from the 1960's. “This lamp is a timeless mid- century design classic,” says Evan Lobel, who occasionally deals in the designer’s material. Robsjohn-Gibbings spent much of his later career designing items for Widdicomb and other commercial manufacturers as part of a commitment to democratizing design — something he wrote about in several influential books on design and art that established him as a tastemaker. But his true sensibility as a designer probably achieved its purest expression in his private client projects, such as the early commission to furnish Hilda Boldt Weber's sprawling sixty-four room mega-mansion Casa Encantada in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, for which he designed more than 200 pieces of furniture and decorative art. Today Casa Encantada is one of the most famous residential structures in Los Angeles — valued somewhere between $100 and $200 million dollars. It has been remodeled many times, most recently with a do-over by Peter Marino inspired by the original Robsjohn- Gibbings interior, completed between 1934 and 1938. Robsjohn-Gibbings decorated the home in Art Deco style, modern and luxurious with an attention to simple, graceful lines and fine materials. Photographs of the original interior reveal that he drew heavily on classical forms and iconography for inspiration — imagery of sphinxes, birds, dolphins and Grecian columns were freely incorporated into table bases, sofas, vases and chairs, giving the interior an elegant and clearly historical, Hellenic appearance. Robsjohn-Gibbings dedication to the vocabulary of the classical world had largely fallen out of fashion following his emigration Open Arm Chair with oak frame, produced by Widdicomb, United States, circa 1946. From Donzella on Incollect.com Lounge Chair in birch with woven canvas strapping, Model 1720 for Widdicomb, United States, circa 1950. Photo courtesy Donzella.