T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings

Mrs. J. O. Weber, Casa Encantada, Bel Air, California
Conrad Hilton, Casa Encantada, Bel Air, California
Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc., New York, Neo-Classical Art Moderne Furniture Part Two, February 5, 1981, lot 6
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Peter J. Holliday, American Arcadia, California and the Classical Tradition, New York, 2016, p. 251, fig. 8.14 (for the present lot illustrated in the Casa Encantada Living Room)

Overall in very good condition. When viewed in person, the wood presents with dynamic figuring and warm amber tones. The surfaces have been sensitively refinished and present with a few minor surface scratches, occasional and minor abrasions and a few occasional scattered discolorations consistent with age and gentle use. The top with a few scattered restorations, sensitively undertaken and only visible upon close inspection. One of the swans with two very minor abrasions to the proper left wing, not at all visually distracting. The wings with a few minor and sensitively undertaken restorations. Some of the construction lines are slightly visible on the swans. A sculptural table with superb carved details and an exceptional opportunity to acquire a major work from the Casa Encantada.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Robsjohn-Gibbings : Masterworks from Casa Encantada

“I have always believed that art should transcend the time and place of its creation. It should be lasting and universal. Artists and designers should create in three dimensions for their works to live. There must be a profound understanding of the past as well as an awareness of the present if there is to be a future.” Blending neoclassicism, Egyptian Revival and Greco Roman inspirations, Casa Encantada was considered by Robsjohn-Gibbings as one of his most important commissions, which would define his “Sans-Epoque” style.

Born in London, T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings graduated as an architect and would then work at the design firm and antique dealer Charles of London. Sent to New York in 1929 to open their branch, he discovered American passion for collecting European antiques. In 1936, he started his own New York decorating company business, embracing the classical canon of Ancient Greece, learnt at the British Museum and starting his journey to develop a “timeless” American style.

In 1936, Hilden Olsen Boldt Weber commissioned architect James E. Dolena and T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings to build the most magnificent estate constructed in Los Angeles since the depression, which would become a Hollwood icon. In this neo-Georgian house with Grecian influence, Robsjohn-Gibbings created an airy interior, where the sculptural furniture was characterized by floating silhouettes and luxurious materials with color schemes of earth tones and shades of cream. Rather than merely copying antiques, Robjsohn Gibbings’design drew on an inspired dialogue with antiquity, in search for a contemporary aesthetic, reinterpreting the “very old, yet always new graceful contours of ancient Greece.”

The Casa Encantada furniture conveyed warmth and rigor, simplicity and fantasy: the present console table (lot XX) masterfully combines two exuberant open-winged swans with a perfect sense of proportion inspired from the ideal of the Greek architecture, while the sumptuous yet severe carved sphinxes of the coffee table display a serene simplicity.

In 1950, Hilda Weber sold her house to Texas hotel magnate Conrad Hilton, who gave it the name Casa Encantada. It was then sold by Hilton’s heirs to financier David H. Murdoch, who renamed it Bellagio House and sold the furniture at Sotheby’s in New York in 1981. The present offering is an unprecedented opportunity to acquire some of the most important pieces from the Casa Encantada commission, acquired directly from Sotheby’s 1981 sale.