Neoclassical design emerged in Europe in the 1750s, as the Age of Enlightenment reached full flower. Neoclassical furniture took its cues from the styles of ancient Rome and Athens: symmetrical, ordered, dignified forms with such details as tapered and fluted chair and table legs, backrest finials and scrolled arms.
Over a period of some 20 years, first in France and later in Britain, neoclassical design — also known as Louis XVI, or Louis Seize — would supersede the lithe and curvaceous Rococo or Louis XV style.
The first half of the 18th century had seen a rebirth of interest in classical antiquity. The "Grand Tour" of Europe, codified as a part of the proper education of a patrician gentleman, included an extended visit to Rome. Some ventured further, to sketch the ruins of ancient Greece. These drawings and others — particularly those derived from the surprising and rich archaeological discoveries in the 1730s and ’40s at the sites of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum — caused great excitement among intellectuals and aesthetes alike.
Neoclassical furniture is meant to reflect both grace and power. The overall appearance of neoclassical chairs, tables and cabinetry is strong and rectilinear. These pieces are, in effect, classical architecture in miniature: chair and table legs are shaped like columns; cabinets are constructed with elements that mirror friezes and pediments.
Yet neoclassicism is enlivened by gilt and silver leaf, marquetry, and carved and applied ornamental motifs based on Greek and Roman sculpture: acanthus leaves, garlands, laurel wreaths, sheaves of arrow, medallions and chair splats are carved in the shapes of lyres and urns. Ormolu — or elaborate bronze gilding — was essential to French design in the 18th and 19th centuries as a cornerstone of the neoclassical and Empire styles.
As you can see from the furniture on these pages, there is a bit of whimsy in such stately pieces — a touch of lightness that will always keep neoclassicism fresh.
Find antique neoclassical furniture today on 1stDibs.
Set of 6 Framed Hand Coloured Botanicals Engravings By J.W Weinmann
Located in Essex, MA
Nicely framed in gold with matting. Two images darker than others but all came together and work together.
Glass, Giltwood, Paper
Victorian Beetle Prints Set of Four – Scarab & Stag Beetle Plates, 1893
Located in Langweer, NL
Victorian Beetle Prints Set of Four – Scarab & Stag Beetle Plates, 1893 Description: This decorative set of four natural history beetle plates originates from the influential Ge...
Paper
Museum Style Beetle Specimen Plates, Victorian Entomology Prints, Set of 8
Located in Langweer, NL
Museum Style Beetle Specimen Plates, Victorian Entomology Prints, Set of 8 Description: This striking decorative set of eight beetle plates originates from the celebrated German ent...
Paper
Contemporary Italian Hand Coloured Vase Print in Villa Lante G.B Piranesi 2 of 2
Located in Scandicci, Florence
Extra large Roman marble vase on a porphyry pedestal printed on a hand press on 100% cotton engraving paper. Completely handpainted with a cream wash, umber highlights, and matte bla...
Wood, Paper
Set of Four Neoclassical Engravings After Jean Duchesne Aine
Located in Rio Vista, CA
Divine set of four framed engravings depicting neoclassical Greco-Roman sculptures from the Louvre Museum after Jean Duchesne Aine (French 1779-1855). The prints are mounted in weath...
Glass, Giltwood, Paper
1915 Framed Neo-Classic Where Terpsichore Dwells Silhouette Print by Boris Major
Located in Van Nuys, CA
1915 Neo-Classic silhouette print titled "Where Terpsichore Dwells" by Boris Major in its original frame. The print features two silhouetted figures dancing, symbolizing Terpsichore,...
Glass, Wood, Paper
Rare Collection of Four Pompeiian Erotic Etchings by Auguste Delvaux, 1836
Located in Chicago, IL
This rare set of four framed hand-colored engravings by Auguste Delvaux comes from César Famin’s remarkable 1836 publication, Musée royal de Naples: peintures, bronzes et statues érotiques du cabinet secret. Each engraving reproduces a fresco unearthed in Pompeii in the 18th and 19th centuries, preserved in the Secret Cabinet of the Naples Archaeological Museum—a collection of ancient Roman erotic art long hidden from public view. In this set: Bacchus wrestles playfully with a satyr in a moment of drunken abandon; a nude woman straddles a man in bed...
Paper
Contemporary Italian Hand Coloured Vase Print in Villa Lante G.B Piranesi 1 of 2
Located in Scandicci, Florence
Extra large Roman marble vase on a porphyry pedestal printed on a hand press on 100% cotton engraving paper. Completely handpainted with a cream wash, umber highlights, and matte bla...
Wood, Paper
Decorative Antique Beetle Prints, European Coleoptera Plates, Entomology 1893
Located in Langweer, NL
Decorative Antique Beetle Prints, European Coleoptera Chromolithographs, 1893 These striking natural history beetle plates originate from the celebrated German entomological work K...
Paper
Pair of 19th Century Engraving, in Color, Representing Paris Monuments, France
Located in Auribeau sur Siagne, FR
These are a pair of engraving, in color. They are representing, monuments of the city of Paris. They have been done durong the 19th century in France.
Glass, Wood, Paper
Italian Neo-Classic Style Two Male Nudes Print
Located in Queens, NY
Italian Neo-Classic style etching of two male nudes realistically rendered, one grasping a spear, the right figure motioning toward the distance. A partial, incomplete face is spaced...
Paint
Engraving by Herbert Lespinasse signed USA 20th Century
Located in Auribeau sur Siagne, FR
Engraving by Herbert Lespinasse, wtih it's in Gilt wood. Herbert Lespinasse was the only American deported to the Buchenwald concentration camp dur...
Paper, Wood
18th Century Framed Greco-Roman Engraving, Sir William Hamilton
Located in Stamford, CT
18th century hand-colored engraving, with and unusual dynamic scene of a goddess riding a chariot pulled by two horses fighting off an attack by two griffins. With a heart-form in wh...
Paper
$252Sale Price|30% Off
Antique Ernest C Rost A Wayside Conversation Farm Landscape Etching 29"
Located in Dayton, OH
Late 19th century black and white etching titled "A Wayside Conversation" by Ernest Christian Rost. Landscape showing a figure on a horse speakin...
Hardwood, Paper
Italian Contemporary Hand Coloured Red Blue Roman Vase Print G.B Piranesi 1 of 2
Located in Scandicci, Florence
Large Roman marble vase printed on a hand press on 100% cotton engraving paper. Completely handpainted with a cream wash, pompeian red and blue highlights and details. Light brown ma...
Paper
Italian Contemporary Hand Coloured Red Blue Roman Vase Print G.B Piranesi 2 of 2
Located in Scandicci, Florence
Large Roman marble vase printed on a hand press on 100% cotton engraving paper. Completely handpainted with a cream wash, pompeian red and blue highlights and details. Light brown ma...
Paper
Napoleonic Architecture Engravings Set, Baltard Paris Monuments Plates - 1803
Located in Langweer, NL
Napoleonic Architectural Engravings Set, Baltard Paris Monuments Plates, 1803 This striking set of eight early 19th-century architectural engravings originates from the rare French ...
Paper
Pair of Contemporary Italian Hand Coloured Roman Vase Prints with Black Frames
Located in Scandicci, Florence
Pair of Extra large Roman Vase printed on a hand press on 100% cotton engraving paper. Completely handpainted with a cream wash, umber highlights, and...
Wood, Paper
Italian 19th Century Big Size Florence Architectural Hand-Colored Print
Located in Scandicci, Florence
A rare extra-large reproduction print, printed on engraving paper with an antique star press and watercolored by hand representing an antique capital. The capital's from a collection...
Paper
Antique Fontainebleau Porte Dauphine View, Napoleon Era Engraving, 1803
Located in Langweer, NL
Antique View of Porte Dauphine, Château de Fontainebleau, Baltard, 1803 Depicting one of the ceremonial entrances to Napoleon’s residence at Fontainebleau. This finely engraved arc...
Paper
18th Century Portrait Color Engraving, Original Frame, 'A Saint Giles's Beauty'
Located in Stamford, CT
Stipple and etching, printed in dark brown ink with hand-coloring. Likely the original late 18th century frame and thus the print is in excellent condition. Print made by Francesco Bartolozzi...
Paper
Al Kaufman Framed Original Signed & Numbered Etching with COA 75/300
Located in San Diego, CA
Original 1970's etching by Listed artist Al Kaufman , framed in glass and oak with COA signed an numbered Sandalwood title.
Glass, Oak, Paper
$259Sale Price|30% Off
Antique 1889 Otis S Weber Coastal New England Windmill Landscape Etching 23"
Located in Dayton, OH
Late 19th century black-and-white nautical etching by Otis S. Weber. Panoramic coastal landscape / seascape with a silhouetted windmill and sailboats in the horizon. Signed in plate ...
Giltwood, Paper
Italian 19th Century Big Size Florence Architectural Hand-Colored Print
Located in Scandicci, Florence
"Porta nel Vestibolo dell'antica Università dei Lanaioli - Studio al Vero del Capitello" A rare extra-large reproduction print, printed on engraving paper with an antique star press and watercolored by hand representing an antique capital...
Paper
Set of Twenty Framed 19th Century French Portrait Etchings
Located in Chicago, IL
A fantastic set of twenty 19th century framed etchings of Roman and Greek emperors, statesmen, and philosophers including Julius Caesar, Augustus Caesar, Cicero, Marcus Brutus...
Paper
Pair of Framed Wedgwood Neoclassical Lithographs, Plate XII and LX
Located in Dallas, TX
Attributed to William Griggs, circa 1880, this pair of lithographs in hand-painted black frames depict a set of Neoclassical Wedgwood amphora vases. Both prints are on cream paper, a...
Glass, Wood, Paint, Paper
Walt Disneys "Mickey's Trailer, 1938", Iconic Color Animation Cel
Located in Stockholm, SE
Walt Disney, "Mickey's Trailer, 1938". Celluloid (xenographic line, ink-enhanced hand painted). Stamped The Walt Disney Company. Numbered 52/500. 29.5 x 49 cm. Movie "Mickey's Trailer," was the second short film, out of 100, that was produced 1938. An icon film. Published by Disney Art Editions in 1994. A certificate of authenticity executed by The Walt Disney Company accompanies the lot. Provenance: Animation Art Gallery/Amsterdam, acquired in 1995. An original production-used animation cel...
Plastic, Paper
Amaina Print "Midnight Moon", blue color signed and titled Blue Color USA
Located in Auribeau sur Siagne, FR
Amaina Print "Midnight Moon", blue color signed and titled Blue Color USA
Wood, Paper
Original Antique Print of The Greek Goddess, Hebe. Dated 1833
Located in St Annes, Lancashire
Wonderful image of Hebe Fine steel engraving. Published by Fisher. Dated 1833 Unframed.
Paper
Audubon 3 Bird Print Large Framed
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Audubon Lithograph of 3 Tropical Birds. Large scale and beautifully framed too. Add some Coastal Chic to your Design Project.
Paper
"Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas" Signed by Norman Rockwell, circa 1970s
Located in Colorado Springs, CO
Presented is a charming, signed print of "Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas," by Norman Rockwell. The Christmastime panorama depicts the busy snow-covered town center at dusk with...
Paper
1901 Portrait of Abraham Lincoln by Jacques Reich, Signed Artists Proof
Located in Colorado Springs, CO
Presented is an original, pencil-signed etched portrait of Abraham Lincoln by Jacques Reich. Reich completed the portrait in 1901. Reich was Hungarian-born portrait etcher, active ma...
Paper
Antique Beetle Chromolithographs, European Coleoptera Plates, Calwer 1893
Located in Langweer, NL
Antique Cabinet of Curiosities Beetle Plates, Jewel & Firefly Insects, 1893 Description: This striking set of six Victorian natural history beetle plates originates from the cel...
Paper
Framed Thoroughbred Horse Lithograph by Richard Newton Jr.
By Richard Newton
Located in Oklahoma City, OK
A framed lithograph of a thoroughbred horse by Richard Newton Jr. This piece is housed in a wood frame and depicts a thoroughbred horse with a deep chestnut brown coat and a white blaze down his nose. The horse looks forward with its eyes fixed on the viewer. He has a brown bridle with gold accents. This piece is not under glass and has been professionally framed. The back includes a hanging wire. This piece was sourced from the estate of an Oklahoma horse breeder. His home was filled with the most amazing antique saddles, sculptures, show trophies, and saddle blankets. Richard Newton Jr. (1874-1951) was a famous equestrian artist known for his horse and jockey paintings...
Metal
Set of Four Greco-Roman Neoclassical Engravings After Passeri
By Giovanni Battista Passeri
Located in Rio Vista, CA
Opulent set of four framed and matted Etruscan vase engravings after Giovanni Passeri (Italian) by Sir William Hamilton illustrated in the Picturea Etruscor in Vaculis. The set inclu...
Glass, Wood, Paper
1864 Engraving of Lincoln's "Proclamation of Emancipation" by Charles Shober
Located in Colorado Springs, CO
This 1864 engraving features the Emancipation Proclamation in elaborate calligraphic text, with five patriotic vignettes and a small portrait of Lincoln. This is the second issue of ...
Paper
Roman Neo-Classic Style Recumbent Male Nude Print
Located in Queens, NY
Roman Neo-Classic-style print of recumbent male nude drawing, supported by his right arm leaning against rockery, his left pointing downward. The initials \"S.R.\" inscribed on the l...
Down
Pair of 18th C Style Pierre Bouillon Engraving Prints of Roman & Greek Friezes
Located in LOS ANGELES, CA
18th Century style Pierre Bouillon neoclassical engraving Prints of Roman & Greek Friezes. Beautifully framed. Additional information: ...
Giltwood
Daniel Graves Italian Country Landscape Etching 39/100, 1982
Located in Clifton Springs, NY
Graves graduated Cum Laude from the Maryland Art Institute in 1972, where he studied anatomy and painting with Joseph Sheppard and Frank Russell, then pursued etching and history pa...
Paper
Set of Neoclassical Hand Colored Greek Mythology Etchings Marco Carloni Triptych
By M. Carloni / Teodoro Matteini for Carrettoni
Located in Atlanta, GA
Set of Three Neoclassical Hand Colored Etchings, after Marco Colani, Rome, Italy. Colani lived in the late 18th Century, and we believe these to be printed in the 19th Century. Nicel...
Glass, Wood, Paper
$700Sale Price|20% Off
Early Nineteenth Century Colored Etching of a Wall in Pompeii
Located in San Francisco, CA
A framed architectural engraving of a wall in Pompeii titled "In Casa Pseudourbana Di Pompei piano superiore Parete corta dell'antistuf...
Paper
Early 19th Century Architectural Prints by Louis-Pierre Baltard de la Fresque
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Three gorgeous early 19th century architectural prints by Louis-Pierre Baltard de la Fresque (1764-1846).
Wood, Paper
French Renaissance Relief Sculptures – Château d’Écouen Engravings, 1803
Located in Langweer, NL
French Renaissance Relief Sculptures – Château d’Écouen Engravings, 1803 Description: This refined set of three early nineteenth-century engravings illustrates sculptural reliefs fr...
Paper
Roman Neo-Classic Style Two Male Torsos Print
Located in Queens, NY
Italian Neo-Classic-style print of two detailed, realistically rendered headless male torsos with a predatory wildcat prowling side view along the bottom. Matted and framed in a parc...
Paint
Rothermel “The United States Senate, A.D. 1850” Henry Clay Compromise Engraving
Located in Savannah, GA
Peter F. Rothermel (American, 1817-1895) A steel engraving depicting the United States Senate and Henry Clay’s Compromise of 1850. Published in Philadelphia in 1855 by John M. Butl...
Paper
Large Nautical Boston Engraved by C. Mottram after the watercolor by J.W. Hill
By John William Hill
Located in W Allenhurst, NJ
MONUMENTAL HANDCOLORED ENGRAVING - 'Boston' painted by John William Hill (NJ/CA, 1812-1879), engraved by Charles Mottram (British, 1807-1876), printed ...
Paper
Contrada Di Dora Grossa Antique Vintage Furniture, 32x42 Inches
Located in Brescia, IT
Elegant and ancient color print reproducing the Contrada Dora Grossa, a street in the city of Turin, seen from the perspective of Palazzo Madama. The title reproduce this meaning. Co...
Nutwood, Paper
Antique View of Château de Fontainebleau, Napoleon Era Landscape Engraving, 1803
Located in Langweer, NL
Antique View of Château de Fontainebleau, Napoleon Era Landscape Engraving, 1803 A panoramic view of Fontainebleau, capturing the grandeur of Napoleon’s residence within a refined l...
Paper
Antique Decorative Ceiling Designs, Fontainebleau Gallery, Baltard, 1803 – Pair
Located in Langweer, NL
Antique Decorative Ceiling Designs, Fontainebleau Gallery, Baltard, 1803 – Pair This elegant pair of architectural engravings presents richly detailed ceiling designs from the Châte...
Paper
Pair of Framed Neoclassical Engravings, Late 18th Early 19th century
Located in MARSEILLE, FR
Pair of framed neoclassical engravings, after works painted by Jean Jacques François Le Barbier (1738 - 1826) and engraved by Jean-Jacques Avril (1744-1831), dated 1789 for the paint...
Wood, Paper
Vintage Italian Pompeii Fresco Original Prints - Set of 2
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
This striking pair of vintage prints offers a sophisticated homage to the world-renowned frescoes of ancient Pompeii. Each work captures the iconic "Pompeian Red" and obsidian black ...
Other
Giovanni Piranesi's "The Temple Of Hercules" Engraving, Framed
Located in Bradenton, FL
The Temple of Hercules Is the only surviving sacred structure in ancient Rome that was made of Greek marble. Located in on the eastern bank of Tiber, it is one of the oldest extant buildings in the city. Giovanni Piranesi memorialized this structure in his famed monumental etchings. This large black and white print...
Paper
pair of French mid 19th century Neo-Classical st. Prints of Bacchus and Mercury
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
An elegant and most decorative pair of French mid 19th century Neo-Classical st. Prints of Bacchus and Mercury. Each wonderfully detailed print is by Jean-Baptiste-Raphael-Urbain Mas...
Giltwood, Paper
Three 19th Century Geramia Discanno Hand Coloured Lithographs Depicting Pompeii
Located in Wormelow, Herefordshire
A set of three 19th century Geramia Discanno hand coloured lithographs, captured from the walls of Pompeii. The frescoes are believed to be prints from a book published in 1890 by on...
Glass, Wood, Paper
Pair of 18th Century Giovanni Battista Piranesi Framed Urn Engravings
Located in Rio Vista, CA
Dramatic pair of framed etchings by Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian 1720-1778). The prints depict classical urns in the neoclassical Greco-Roman taste. The engravings are mounted in substantial black lacquered wood frames with a site measurement of 17 inches wide by 22.5 inches high. The first urn is a krater type supported by a Griffin pedestal...
Plexiglass, Wood, Paper
$1,160Sale Price / set|20% Off
Set of Three Hand Colored Neoclassic Prints with Egyptian Revival Frames
Located in Lambertville, NJ
A set of hand colored prints with gilt highlights of neoclassic urns. Elaborate Egyptian Revival frames with a bronze finish over wood. Blac...
Wood, Glass
Van Houtte Botanical Amaryllis Chromolithograph Framed
Located in Boca Raton, FL
Beautiful Van Houtte Botanical Amaryllis Chromolithograph on Woven Paper , framed in gold tone frame.
Paper
Pair P.J.Redoute Botanicals Rose Chromolithographs
Located in Boca Raton, FL
Elegant pair of P.J.Redoute botanical floral Chromolithographs in gold framed.
Paper
4 P.J.Redoute Botanical Floral Chromolithographs Framed
Located in Boca Raton, FL
Beautiful set of 4 pcs P.J.Redoute floral botanical chronographs.
Paper
Arthur Coppedge African American Offset Print
Located in W Allenhurst, NJ
Wonderful offset print of an African American woman. 1970's style. Dedicated and Autographed by the artist Arthur Coppedge. Curbside to NYC/Philly $400
Paper