Reflecting the final era of royal opulence before the upheaval of the French Revolution, antique Louis XVI furniture features more angular shapes than the Rococo curves of the Louis XV style, harkening back to the imposing grandeur of Louis XIV.
Dating between 1750 and 1800, an era that overlapped with the last king of France whose reign was cut short by the guillotine, Louis XVI furniture, known as the goût grec, is emblematic of the neoclassical revision that French furniture underwent during the second half of the 18th century.
Authentic Louis XVI furniture characteristics include clean lines and carved details such as scrolls and acanthus flourishes that were inspired by ancient Greece and Rome. This was informed by a burgeoning interest in antiquity in the 18th century, owing to new archaeological excavations at sites including Pompeii and Herculaneum. It largely eclipsed the more East Asian–influenced ornamentation of Louis XV for something more geometric and symmetrical.
The Louis XVI style was defined by what was being created for the palatial rooms at Versailles and Fontainebleau, particularly for the queen, with cabinetmaker Jean-Henri Riesener being a favorite of Marie-Antoinette’s for his luxurious pieces accented with gilded bronze and marquetry. Furniture maker Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené was also a major designer of the period, with his pieces for the royal residences adorned with giltwood and neoclassical touches like tapered columns for chair legs and laurel leaf carvings. Cabinetmaker Adam Weisweiler occasionally incorporated into his furniture porcelain panels produced by Sèvres, a popular manufacturer of European ceramics that served the crown with serveware, vases and other decorative objects.
Find a collection of antique Louis XVI seating, tables, cabinets and other furniture on 1stDibs.
Porcelain Transfer Decorate / Gilt Dinner Service Plate For 11 People
By Coronet
Located in Tarry Town, NY
Dine in timeless elegance with our Porcelain Painted and Gilt Floral Bouquet Decorated Set of Eleven Dinner Plates, a stunning creation from the mid-20th century by Coronet Chinaware...
Porcelain
Silver Plated Covered Dish, Louis XVI Style, French Serveware, 1990
Located in Miami, FL
Covered vegetable, meat or cheese dish. Classical LXVI style dishes. This special type of dish made to protect the food for getting not hot enough before serving. Very precious an...
Metal
A French late 19th century Louis XVI st. white Saint Amand et Hamage dining set
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A very elegant Country French late 19th century Louis XVI st. white Saint Amand et Hamage porcelain dining set. This fifty nine piece set is signed 'Saint Amand et Hamage', and has a...
Porcelain
18th Century Nevers French Revolution Tin-Glazed Faïence Dish, Bastille Tower
By Nevers
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A French revolution tin-glazed earthenware dish, made in Nevers, circa 1790. Showing a yellow battlement often thought to be the Bastille, the image of the tower represents the defen...
Earthenware
18th Century Nevers French Revolution Tin-Glazed Faïence Dish, the End of Famine
By Nevers
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A French Revolution tin-glazed earthenware dish, made in Nevers, circa 1790. Showing a plump figure along side a basket of flowers beneath de l’arbre de la Liberté. The full body of...
Earthenware
Blue and gold porcelain openwork bowl with Qianlong apocryphal seal - China
Located in Vicenza, IT
Elegant oval porcelain openwork bowl decorated with cobalt blue glaze and fine gold floral motifs. The strikingly scenic openwork band recalls the decorations of the so-called "pink ...
Porcelain
Sèvres Style Porcelain Plate Depicting King Louis XVI
By Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres
Located in London, GB
This exquisite antique porcelain plate was crafted in the style of the famous Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory and depicts King Louis XVI of France...
Porcelain
H 1 in Dm 10.5 in
Royal Crown Derby Partial Dinner Service
By Royal Crown Derby Porcelain
Located in Buchanan, MI
A Royal Crown Derby Partial dinner service, twenty seven pieces, 20th century, in the Imari pattern, comprising of ten dinner plates and ten bread and b...
Porcelain
H 0.4 in Dm 11.03 in
Cabinet de Curiosités, Six Contemporary Decorated Porcelain Dinner Plates
By Vito Nesta
Located in Milano, Lombardia
The Cabinet de Curiosités collection takes inspiration from the rooms of the same name which in the sixteenth century collected objects and subjec...
Porcelain
H 0.5 in Dm 10.5 in
Set of 12 English Raised Gilt Porcelain Dinner Service Plates
Located in Lambertville, NJ
A regal set of 12 elaborately gild service plates, by Royal Worcester. The set with delicate broad gilt borders with a white porcelain background. The mark on the back from 1950.
Porcelain
H 10 in W 18 in D 14.5 in
Antique Silver Domed Dish Cover
Located in South Salem, NY
Elegant silver-plate dome dish cover with ornate handle, made in England in the 19th century.
Silver
H 0.5 in Dm 8.8 in
19th Century French Majolica Plate
By Orchies
Located in Austin, TX
Lovely colorful French Majolica plate with flowers and acanthus leaves Orchies, circa 1890.
Ceramic
H 0.4 in Dm 11.03 in
Cabinet de Curiosités, Six Contemporary Decorated Porcelain Dinner Plates
By Vito Nesta
Located in Milano, Lombardia
The Cabinet de Curiosités collection takes inspiration from the rooms of the same name which in the sixteenth century collected objects and subjec...
Porcelain
H 0.88 in Dm 7.13 in
Russian Lomonosov Blue Gold and White Porcelain Plate
By Lomonosov
Located in New York, NY
A beautiful Russian blue, gold and white porcelain plate in the 'Cobalt Net' pattern by Lomonosov Porcelain, Russia, circa late-20th century, after 1991. Wi...
Porcelain
Antique Yongzheng/Qianlong Qing Period Chinese Porcelain Plate, 18th Century
Located in Amsterdam, Noord Holland
Sharing with you this lovely plate from the Qing period. It has a rather unusual scene. Additional information: Material: Porcelain & Pottery Region of Origin: China Period: 18th ce...
Porcelain
H 9.25 in W 9.5 in D 1.25 in
19th Century French Faience Floral Plate
Located in Pearland, TX
A lovely antique late 18th-century to early 19th-century French faience plate with beautiful hand painted flowers and a scalloped rim. It would look fabulous displayed on a wall or s...
Faience
H 1.25 in Dm 9 in
18th Century French Faience Nevers Dog Plate
By Nevers
Located in Pearland, TX
A superb antique 18th-Century French provincial faience Nevers plate. This lovely plate has scalloped edges and is decorated with a hand painted charming dog holding a basket in a ga...
Faience
H 0.75 in Dm 10.5 in
Set of 12 Noritake Morimura Gilt Dinner or Service Plates, Ex-Seidenberg
By Noritake
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A fine set of 12 Noritake porcelain dinner plates. With transfer painted polychrome flowers to the center & rim, green Rococo style decoration, and raised gold highlights. (Labeled to the reverse with an old Seidenberg sticker pricing the set at $2250.) Simply a wonderful set of dinner service plates! Date: Mid-20th Century Overall Condition: They are in overall good, as-pictured, used estate condition with no chips, cracks, or repairs. Condition Details: There is some noticeable rubbing to the inner gold ring in the centers of most plates. There is some minor rubbing and losses to gilding high points in the raised gold decoration and one small noticeable (a little bit deeper) half-inch scratch to one plate. Otherwise, there are some fine & light surface scratches and other signs of expected light wear consistent with age. Maker: Noritake Morimura Brothers...
Porcelain
H 4.25 in Dm 10.5 in
Wonderful Floral Pattern Service 12 Dinner Porcelain Plates Aynsley Bavaria
Located in Roslyn, NY
A Wonderful Floral Pattern Service 12 For Dinner Porcelain Plates By Aynsley Bavaria
Porcelain
H 0.6 in Dm 9.85 in
Dinner Service of 65 Pieces in Limoges Porcelain, by Raynaud
Located in LA CIOTAT, FR
A lovely dinner service of 65 pieces, in delicate Limoges porcelain and stamped with the maker's mark of 'Raynaud'. Sumptuously decorated with hand painted garlands of pink bell- sha...
Porcelain
H 5 in Dm 10.25 in L 5 in
69-Piece Bernardaud Limoge Artois Bleu Dinnerware
By Bernardaud
Located in Stamford, CT
Bernardaud limoge Artois blue or green dinnerware with tea cups and saucers, (1974-2006) Decorated with laurel wreath and flowers, gold rim on Versai...
Porcelain
H 1 in Dm 11 in
64 Pieces Royal Limoges France Porcelain Dinner Set
By Limoges
Located in Stamford, CT
64 pieces Royal Limoges France Porcelain dinner set. A French France Limoges group or suite of porcelain plates from the Hotel Meurice Paris, Sixty-four ...
Porcelain
61 Pieces Hutschenreuther Porcelain Dinner Set, Fleur De Lis Blue Pattern
Located in Stamford, CT
61 pieces Hutschenreuther Porcelain dinner set, Germany, 1814. Fleur De Lis Blue by Tirschenreuth in a bone white and celeste blue finish. This impos...
Porcelain
18th Century Nevers French Revolution Tin-Glazed Faïence Dish Les Trois Domaines
By Nevers
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A French Revolution tin-glazed earthenware dish, made in Nevers, circa 1790, showing the symbols of the three estates, the crook of the clergy, the spade of the peasant, and the swor...
Earthenware
H 1.25 in Dm 10 in
18th Century Nevers French Revolution Tin-Glazed Faïence Dish, L'équité
By Nevers
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A French Revolution tin-glazed earthenware dish, made in Nevers, circa 1790, called l’équité or the Justice. Showing a scale balancing the symbols of the commoners with the symbols o...
Earthenware
Set Dozen Antique Sèvres Porcelain Dinner Dishes with Feuille-de-Choux Borders
By Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres
Located in Katonah, NY
A set of a dozen 18th century exceptionally beautiful Sèvres soft-paste porcelain dinner plates decorated all-over with loose bouquets of flowers within blue enamel Feuille-de-Choux...
Porcelain