Formed in the wake of the Jacobin Reign of Terror’s bloody guillotine, the Directoire was established to lead France into order through the leadership of a five-member council of directors. It was brief, lasting only from 1795 to 1799, ending with Napoléon Bonaparte’s coup d’état, and was economically tumultuous. Yet it was an essential bridge between the era of Louis XVI and the elaborate Empire style that followed, with Directoire furniture and decorative arts shaped by a royal passion for classical design and an enthusiasm for postrevolutionary France.
Much of the country’s furniture production had halted during the French Revolution when the furniture guilds system was abolished, but during the Directoire period, the cabinetmakers restarted their businesses, such as François-Honoré-Georges and Jacob-Desmalter who established a new workshop called Jacob-Frères. Pieces made in walnut, elm, mahogany and other inexpensive materials incorporated influences ranging from Egypt to Pompeii, with popular forms including the curule armchair based on an ancient Roman design. The aesthetics of the transitional style were more austere than during the monarchy, with court cabinetmaker Jean-Baptiste Sené, for instance, reimagining his workshop’s neoclassical-style furniture with ungilded surfaces and a reduction of ornamentation.
Symbols referencing the revolutionary tenets of liberty, equality and fraternity were frequently carved into Directoire furnishings, such as the Phrygian cap, clasped hands and the fasces, which is an image of a bound bundle of sticks adopted from the Roman Republic, where it was seen as an emblem of strength through unity.
Elements of the French Directoire style continued through Empire style. Designers Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine are credited today as major proponents of both movements. The classically inspired furniture design is represented in pieces such as the boat-shaped daybed and the klismos chair, which endured in French interiors as well as in styles abroad, including American Directoire.
Find a collection of antique Directoire chairs, tables, daybeds, decorative objects and other furniture on 1stDibs.
$1,196Sale Price|27% Off
French Directoire Style Cream Painted Gilt Polychromed Decorative Barometer
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
French Cream Painted and Gilt Polychromed Directoire Barometer P. F. Bollenbach Barometer and Thermometer, 20th Century A stunning French-style cream-painted and gilt polychromed D...
Glass, Wood
Antique Directoire Style Verre Églomisé Glass Barometer
Located in Laguna Beach, CA
Antique Directoire style verre églomisé glass barometer, 19th century. Barometer is not functional it is purely decorative.
Glass, Wood
Louis XVI French Barometer From 1700s
Located in Lejre, DK
A Louis XVI French barometer adorned with intricate carvings and original gilding, dating back to the late 1700s. This exquisite piece stands as a tes...
Wood
$16,181 / set
H 20.48 in W 12.6 in D 5.52 in
French Rococo Style Gilt Bronze Clock and Barometer by Charpentier
Located in London, GB
Designed in the French Rococo style, this clock and barometer set have been beautifully ornamented with scrolling foliate gilt bronze forms. The two are diamond shaped, with symmetri...
Enamel, Ormolu, Bronze
$9,600
H 15 in W 18.5 in D 5.5 in
Directoire Gilt-Bronze Marble Mounted Chariot Clock, Late 19th Century
Located in Atlanta, GA
A very fine and delicate directoire style gilt-bronze marble mounted chariot clock. Exquisite bronze work depicting a winged charioteer guiding a pair of...
Marble, Bronze
Decorative French Painted Tole and Iron Clock Face
Located in Rio Vista, CA
Large rustic French decorative clock face featuring a painted tole face with Roman numerals. This is a decorative non-working clock face only and does n...
Metal, Iron
19th Century Italian Carved Louis XVI Style Giltwood Barometer
Located in Rio Vista, CA
Gorgeous late 19th century gilt wood barometer thermometer made in Italy in the Louis XVI or baroque taste. The large barometer features a large carve...
Metal, Brass
LATE 18th CENTURY LARGE DIRECTOIRE TEMPLE CLOCK
Located in Firenze, FI
A refined, large-scale temple clock. The clock features a white statuary marble frame, decorated with black Belgian marble columns and finely gilded lost-wax cast bronze partitions. ...
Belgian Black Marble, Statuary Marble, Bronze
$2,272Sale Price|20% Off
H 16.34 in W 9.26 in D 4.34 in
Marble and Fire-Gilt-Bronze Directoire-Era Portico Clock Retour d'Egypte Style
Located in 263-0031, JP
A small, svelte French portico clock from the Directory Era, 1795-99. In the "Retour d’Egypte” style that became quite the hot thing following Napoleon’s - ahem! - incursion into Egy...
Marble, Bronze
$9,850Sale Price|34% Off
H 46 in W 13.5 in D 3.75 in
French 19th Century Louis XV Style Gilt-Bronze and Ebonized Wood Wall Barometer
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A fine French 19th century Louis XV style gilt-bronze and ebonized wood wall-mounting barometer - thermometer by Molteni Frères. The elongated ebonized body surmounted with gilt-bron...
Bronze
$60,682 / set
H 40.56 in W 17.33 in D 5.12 in
19th Century Neoclassical Style Gilt Bronze Cartel Clock and Barometer by Dasson
Located in London, GB
This fine set comprises a cartel clock and barometer, each of which are crafted entirely in gilt bronze. The clock and barometer cases are identical, and take the form of a lyre. The...
Enamel, Ormolu, Bronze
Beautiful gilt brass barometer clock XX
By Mice di rugiano domenico e c. s.n.c.
Located in Cantù, IT
Beautiful gilt bronze barometer clock 1970s
Bronze
A Louis XVI Style Cartel Clock and Companion Barometer
Located in Brighton, West Sussex
A Louis XVI Style Gilt-Bronze and Jasperware Mounted Cartel Clock and Companion Barometer, After the Model Attributed to Pierre Gouthière. The clock and barometer each surmounted by...
Enamel, Ormolu
Louis XVI Giltwood Barometer
Located in Kittery Point, ME
The white painted dial signed Cappy A Paris, 1773 within a laurel wreath carved case on a delicately carved flower entwined ribbon backplate ending in a tassel.
Giltwood
French Directoire Wall Clock with Original Movement
By Honoré Pons
Located in New York, NY
This circa 1800 wall-mounted clock has the original, working, movement and is signed by Honoré Pons of Paris, who would later be sent to Bordeaux by Napole...
Ormolu