Grand Tour Desk Accessories
For 18th-century young British noblemen, no education was complete without a year on the Grand Tour. Although it had no official route, the Grand Tour focused on places foundational to European art, literature and architecture, including sites in France, Germany, Switzerland and, most importantly, Italy. It was an opportunity not just to witness the roots of the classics they had studied but also to take some of it home. Grand Tour furniture was among the souvenirs.
Grand Tour furniture ranged from marble architectural models replicating ancient wonders to actual antiquities often taken illicitly, leaving a legacy of looting still being unraveled today. Other items reflected the artistic richness of the Renaissance cities and other destinations. In Italy, this included scagliola tables and pedestals mimicking marble as well as tabletops and wall panels embedded with pietra dura hard stone mosaics.
Furniture was also developed to display Grand Tour purchases in the owner’s home, presenting them as a cultivated and well-traveled person. Mahogany collector’s cabinets held objects like intaglio moldings of coins and seals while others had specialized drawers that framed pietra dura panels.
Many objects were specifically produced for Grand Tour collectors. Often accompanied by retinues on journeys lasting months or years, the elite travelers, the wealthiest of whom extended their trips to Egypt and the Holy Land, required artful personal mementos befitting the experience. For example, Grand Tour micromosaics — small artworks, most not more than two inches wide — arose from the entrepreneurial impulses of artisans who had trained in the Vatican’s workshops.
Grand Tour journeys would help inform a range of decorative styles such as neoclassical, Rococo and Adam style. (Architect and designer Robert Adam toured Italy and France for five years.) The Grand Tour flourished at a time of economic prosperity and political stability, but the French Revolution in 1789 brought it to an end. Yet as the tradition faded in popularity in England, the rising wealth of the United States led to an increase in tourism across the Atlantic and a similar passion for collecting to show one’s worldliness.
Find a collection of Grand Tour decorative objects, wall decorations, lighting and other furniture on 1stDibs.
19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Siena Marble
1850s Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Belgian Black Marble
1820s French Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Bronze
Mid-20th Century European Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Alabaster
19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Slate
19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Marble
19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Marble, Porphyry
1890s Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Siena Marble, Porphyry
19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Marble
Late 19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Marble
19th Century French Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Siena Marble, Brass, Bronze
Mid-20th Century English Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Ceramic
Early 1900s Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Stone, Brass
19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Marble, Porphyry
Mid-19th Century French Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Ormolu
Early 19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Bronze
Late 19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Marble
20th Century Italian Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Marble
Mid-19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Glass
19th Century English Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Brass
19th Century English Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Bronze, Ormolu
Early 20th Century Italian Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Silver
Mid-19th Century English Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Marble
Mid-19th Century European Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Bronze
Late 19th Century Austrian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Bronze
Late 19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Serpentine
Mid-19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Marble
19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Marble, Metal
Early 20th Century Italian Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Marble
Early 20th Century Italian Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Terracotta
19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Marble, Slate, Bronze
Late 19th Century French Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Ormolu
19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Bronze
1860s Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Bronze, Ormolu
Mid-19th Century French Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Bronze
1880s Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Siena Marble, Bronze
Early 20th Century German Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Alabaster, Bronze
1890s Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Porphyry, Bronze
19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Siena Marble
Early 19th Century French Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Bronze
19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Siena Marble
1890s Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Glass
1960s Italian Vintage Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Alabaster
19th Century Unknown Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Stone, Marble
19th Century European Antique Grand Tour Desk Accessories
Belgian Black Marble, Bronze, Metal