Wright Auction

The Mesa table for Widdicomb was first introduced in 1951 and measured almost nine feet long and six feet wide. The following year, the company unveiled a smaller table, Model 1760-6, measuring six feet wide. This exceedingly rare large version is one of potentially only two examples to have ever come to market, with one other known example residing in the permanent collection of the Yale University Art Gallery.

This exceedingly rare large version is one of potentially only two examples to have ever come to market.

The present lot was acquired in the late 1950s by George and Barbara Thomas for their stunning modern redwood and glass home in Fresno, California. The home at 6628 Liberty Avenue was featured in a 1951 issue of The Fresno Bee, where it was lauded for bringing the outside in with floor-to-ceiling windows and cedar paneling. The Thomases, parents to three young boys, sought to create a “boy-proof” floorplan centered around a 65-foot-long living room. The Mesa table would have been the centerpiece of the room, where, at nearly nine feet long, it would have provided ample space for the whole family, and child-friendly rounded edges. Further, the sprawling proportions of this particular example also reflect the period's trend toward ranch living, and one can assume that T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings would have been thrilled to see his spectacular table placed in the expansive space.

When Robsjohn-Gibbings first introduced his line of furniture for the Grand Rapids-based Widdicomb Furniture Company in the 1940s, he declared: “The essential luxury of life in America is informality.” His designs, featuring sinuous lines and a stylish yet unfussy aesthetic, embodied the casual elegance sought by discerning consumers, realized in warm and inviting materials. The Mesa table, inspired by the terrain of the Southwest, perfectly encapsulated Robsjohn-Gibbings' design philosophy and remains one of the most extraordinary yet approachable works of American design to this day.