-Greek Furniture Inspired by Classic Designs-
SARIDIS of Athens
Press References
Klismos collection was hosted by publications such as:
Furniture of Classical Greece
T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings and Carlton W. Pullin
Published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York (1963)
This handsome book records the discovery and contemporary recreation of Greek furniture designs virtually ignored for more than two thousand years.
T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, internationally known as a furniture designer, spent more than two decades studying and collecting from the museums of the world the design motifs found in the sculptured reliefs, vase paintings, terracottas and bronze statues of classical Greece.
New York Magazine - 5 Feb 1996
The most notable achievement of Gibbing's final creative period, 1961 to 1976 was his nineteen-piece line of furniture manifactured by Eleftherios Saridis of Athens and based on Greek antiquity. Life devoted an extensive photo essay to the line and Diana Vreeland's Vogue pronounced the fifth-century-B.C. reproductions "completely now"...
It is a tribute to Gibbings that the Saridis line has never gone out of production. Steady demand by celebrity designers has ensured the company's survival.
LIFE - 15 Sep 1961
Ringed with white marble under Greece's cloudless summer skies or set upon a templed promontory overlooking the sapphire Aegean, the objects on these pages blend as harmoniously as classical sculpture with the ancient monuments that surround them. It is no accident that they do, for the designs, with their clean-lined grace and their delicate proportions, are straight out of Greek antiquity.
Almost no original Greek furniture has survived. Gibbings worked from representations on sculpture and paintings on Greek pottery, translating their spare, elegant patterns into bronze, leather and fine Greek walnut. Manufactured by Greek Furniture Maker Eleftherios Saridis, Gibbings' handsome re-creations can noe be bought in Athens.
T, The New York Times Style Magazine - Summer 2010
Hooked on Classics - Aristotle Onassis sat here. So can you.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, sometimes an object is worth a thousand images. 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 centuries, Robsjohn-Gibbings’s version made the klismos shape famous again in the 20th.
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 pieces have been collected by practitioners of the luxe life from Aristotle Onassis to Karl Lagerfeld.) It is also equally at home in both traditional and modern rooms. Which makes it neo and classical at the same time..
House Beautiful - July 2007
Everywhere we look Klismos Chair, Carol Prisant
No one's ever sat on an original Greek klismos chair, because no one has actually survived. Its popularity peaked around 400 B.C., but it was resurrected in the 18th century, when all things classical were the fashion. Since thenit's been perennially beloved. From the moment we first spied it on ancient Greek pots, the elegant klismos has been reproduced, reinvented, refreshed and retailed. It's the most popular chair we' ve ever seen.
House and Garden - April 2008
The April 2008 issue of the Greek edition of House and Garden hosts the country retreat of the late Lefteris Saridis and his wife Mika.
The Free Lance-Star - Aug. 7, 1972
Schenectady Gazette - Aug 24, 1972
The Evening News Aug. 9, 1972
ΒΗΜΑDECO - December 2011
Μίκα Σαρίδη, πρόεδρος της εταιρείας επίπλων Σαρίδης
«Οταν πρωτοήρθα στην Αθήνα από τη Μυτιλήνη για να σπουδάσω στη σχολή νηπιαγωγών “μάτιασα” αυτόν τον δρόμο του Κολωνακίου, τη Νεοφύτου Δούκα, και ευχήθηκα μια μέρα να κατοικήσω εδώ. Η ζωή μού έκανε το χατίρι. Εγκατασταθήκαμε εδώ το 1981 μετά τον γάμο μας με τον Λευτέρη Σαρίδη. Και εδώ συνεχίζω να ζω μετά τον θάνατό του. Στο σπίτι μου νιώθω προστατευμένη, ήρεμη, γαλήνια, μοναχική, δηλαδή το αντίθετο από αυτό που εισπράττουν όλοι όταν με βλέπουν έξω από αυτό. Είναι το φρούριό μου, ο δικός μου χώρος, το λιμάνι μου, η αγκαλιά που υπάρχει μόνο για μένα. Κάτι που δεν μπορεί να ταράξει τίποτα και κανείς. Και επιθυμώ να το σέβονται και οι άλλοι γύρω μου. Δυστυχώς όλα αυτά προσκρούουν στον... οχαδερφισμό και στην αγένεια των γειτόνων και του κόσμου γενικότερα».
Vogue - February 1963
The summer home of Nicholas Goulandris, a ship magnate and a connoisseur of Greek antiquities, was featured in Vogue in 1963 under the title “A Lost Greek Look Retrieved”.
Journal of Interior Design - vol.34, no.1, 2008
T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings: Crafting aModern Home for Postwar America
Daniella Ohad Smith , Ph.D.
Ensconced in Athens, Robsjohn-Gibbings partnered with Susan and Eleftherios Saridis, owners of Saridis of Athens, one of Europe’s finest cabinetmakers. For the next fifteen years, the three collaborated to produce replicas of ancient Greek furniture, bringing these forms into the mainstream of contemporary design. Three decades of studying Greek artifacts in some of the world’s leading museums enabled Robsjohn-Gibbings to repro-duce accurately the forms of ancient furniture, using local walnut, leather, and bronze fittings according tot he materials and methods used by Greek artisans thou-sands of years earlier. He and the Saridises organized an exhibition, presented at the showroom of the company, featuring replicas of ancient Greek furniture dating from the sixth to the fourth centuries BCE, of which the originals were documented in his illustrated Furniture of Classical Greece.
On Interiors - August 4, 2009
The interior design review blog for Herringbone Interiors
The Ancient Greek klismos chair is undeniably one of the most resilient creations in the history of interior design. It's horizontal crest rail, contoured back splat, and curvaceous sabre legs embody a perfect harmony of aesthetic and function. The design (dating back to the 5th century B.C.E.) is unmistakable, and its influence can be found scattered throughout many of today's furniture collections.
The firm Saridis of Athens has been reproducing authentic pieces of Etruscan, Greek and Roman periods, in keeping with the standards of original craftsmanship. The image of Carl Lagerfeld's residence shows Saridis' klismos reproductions looking stellar in a modern day setting.
goop - 2015
The Dining Room Chair Guide
We discovered Emily Summers during our time in Dallas and fell for her luxurious-meets-classic aesthetic.
“My favorite classical interpretation of a Greek Klismos chair.”