Terence Harold Robsjohn-Gibbings papers
name: label: Creator
content: Robsjohn-Gibbings, T. H. (Terence Harold), 1905-1976
label: Names
content: Hadrian's Villa (Tivoli, Italy)
label: Names
content: Robsjohn-Gibbings (Firm)
label: Names
content: Dunn, Alan, 1900-
label: Names
content: Hadrian, Emperor of Rome, 76-138 (Homes and Haunts) -- Italy -- Tivoli
label: Names
content: Petty, Mary
label: Names
content: Richter, Gisela Marie Augusta, 1882-1972
topic: label: Topic
content: Furniture designers -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Interior decorators -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Decorative arts
label: Topic
content: Furniture design
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Portions of the Terence Robsjohn-Gibbings papers were donated by the artist in 1966.  In 1977, Margaret Carson donated a manuscript copy of The Cuckoo Sings.  Later in 1977, the bulk of additional material in the collection was donated to the Archives of American Art by Robsjohn-Gibbing's associate and executor, Carlton Pullin.
creator: label: Creator
content: Robsjohn-Gibbings, T. H. (Terence Harold), 1905-1976
setName: label: See more items in
content: Terence Harold Robsjohn-Gibbings papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of furniture and interior designer Terence Harold Robsjohn-Gibbings measure 14.4 linear feet and date from 1898 to 1977 with the bulk of material dating from 1915 to 1977.  Found within the papers are biographical material, correspondence, writings, project files, printed materials, artwork including 4 sketchbooks, 30 scrapbooks documenting Robsjohn-Gibbings career, and photographs of Robsjohn-Gibbings and his work.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Terence Harold Robsjohn-Gibbings (1905-1976) was a furniture and interior designer who lived and worked in New York City and Athens, Greece.

Robsjohn-Gibbings was born in England and studied architecture at London University.  In 1930, he immigrated to America, and six years later opened his own interior decorating firm, Robsjohn-Gibbings Ltd., on Madison Avenue.  Throughout the 1940s and 50s, he was one of the most recognized decorators in America and designed homes for Doris Duke, Alfred Knopf, and Thelma Chrysler Foy.  One of his earliest commissions was Hilda Boldt Weber's 43 room Casa Encantada mansion in Bel-Air, for which he created more than 200 custom pieces of furniture between 1934 and 1938.  

From 1943 to 1956, Robsjohn-Gibbings was the principal designer for the Widdicomb Furniture Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  These residential furnishings reflected an elegant, simplistic aesthetic and were regularly showcased in the magazines Town and Country, Interior Design, Vogue, and House Beautiful.

He was a critic of the prevailing taste in Bauhaus modernism and Queen Anne, Georgian, and Spanish extravagance and expressed these views on design and aesthetics in the books Goodbye, Mr. Chippendale (1944), Mona Lisa's Moustache (1947), and Homes of the Brave (1953).  

In 1960, he and his collaborator, Carlton Pullin, met the Greek furniture makers Susan and Eleftherios Saridis, who commissioned Robsjohn-Gibbings to design a line for their company, Saridis of Athens.  These pieces were modeled after classical Greek forms and aesthetics, and are detailed in Robsjohn-Gibbings' Furniture of Classical Greece (1963).

In 1965, Robsjohn-Gibbings moved to Athens, Greece and continued designing residential and commercial spaces until his death in 1976.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 14.4 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1915-1977
label: Date
content: 1898
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.robstere
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Sketchbooks
label: Type
content: Photographs
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 8 series.

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1942-1970 (4 folders, Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1940-1976 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 3: Writings, circa 1930-1976 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1, BV 12)

Series 4: Project Files, circa 1930-1976 (4 linear feet; Box 1-2, Box 6-8, BV 13-16, OV 42-53, OV 55)

Series 5: Printed Material, 1898-1977 (1.9 linear feet, Box 2-4, Box 9)

Series 6: Photographic Materials, 1915-1976 (0.3 linear feet; Box 4, Box 9, OV 54)

Series 7: Scrapbooks, 1936-1970 (5.9 linear feet, Box 9-11, BV 17-41)

Series 8: Artwork, circa 1930-1976 (0.5 linear feet; Box 4-5, Box 9)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collections was processed and described in a finding aid by Judy Ng in 2013 with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketchbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of furniture and interior designer Terence Harold Robsjohn-Gibbings measure 14.4 linear feet and date from 1898 to 1977, with the bulk of material dating from 1915 to 1977.  Found within the papers are biographical material, correspondence, writings, project files, printed materials, artwork including 4  sketchbooks, 30 scrapbooks documenting Robsjohn-Gibbings career, and photographs of Robsjohn-Gibbings and his work.

Biographical materials consist of a key to the city of San Francisco, an award certificate, a photograph of a table from Robsjohn-Gibbings' personal art collection, and a ring design.

Correspondence is primarily with Robsjohn-Gibbings' friends, business associates, and scholarly researchers discussing relationships, business commissions, and his professional work.  Correspondents of note include illustrators Alan Dunn and Mary Petty, and classical art historian Gisela Richter.

Writings by Robsjohn-Gibbings consist of 13 essays, 2 copies of the draft manuscript The Cuckoo Sings, 2 manuscript drafts of Furniture of Classical Greece, and a notebook of collected inspirational quotations.  There is also a translation of a selection of Heinz Kahler's Hadrian und Seine Villa Bei Tivoli.

Project files include photographs and portfolios of 28 commercial and residential commissions; photographs and watercolor renderings of designs produced by Robsjohn-Gibbings Ltd.; photographs and portfolios of designs for Widdicomb Furniture Company; and printed material and research related to the furniture designs for Saridis of Athens.  The series also includes portfolios of residences photographed by Ezra Stoller Associates, and photographs and notes for a 25 year Interior Design retrospective exhibition.

Printed material includes published books by Robsjohn-Gibbings, annotated books on Hadrian's Villa and decorative sculpture, catalogs, clippings, press releases, and miscellaneous printed material.

Photographs are of Robsjohn-Gibbings, his friends, his New York office and Athens apartment, and photo shoots for Life and Look magazines.

There are 24 volumes documenting Robsjohn-Gibbings career from 1936 to 1963, an additional 4 volumes of press coverage of his books, and 2 more volumes documenting European art and historical interior design.

Artwork includes 4 sketchbooks of classical Greek and Roman furniture designs rendered in graphite and watercolor by Robsjohn-Gibbings.