Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
LOUIS XVI STYLE
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.
to
4
26
11
39
144
139
132
53
45
39
28
23
18
15
15
6
6
6
3
3
1
1
19
18
2
1
29
17
16
14
6
39
34
3
1
39
39
39
1
1
1
1
1
Style: Louis XVI
Copernican Delamarche Planetary With Hand Mechanism
Located in Firenze, IT
SHIPPING POLICY:
No additional costs will be added to this order.
Shipping costs will be totally covered by the seller (customs duties included).
Copernican-type planetary globe in cardboard and engraved paper mounted on a blackened wooden stand.
France, circa 1810.
H. 54 cm Diam. 36 cm
Antique armillary spheres...
Category
1810s French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Wood
French Louis XVI Style Bronze Barometer
Located in Queens, NY
French Louis XVI-style bronze wall barometer with an urn finial top with a head above the round dial and draped with a ribbon design.
Category
20th Century French Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Bronze
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...
Category
19th Century Italian Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Metal, Brass
A Brass Butterfield Paris Dial French Circa 1780
Located in Firenze, IT
Shipping policy
No additional costs will be added to this order.
Shipping costs will be totally covered by the seller (customs duties included).
Octagonal brass dial inset compass ...
Category
Late 18th Century German Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Silver, Brass
Antique 18th Century Diptych Portable Sundial And Compass by Beringer
Located in Bilzen, BE
Antique 18th Century Diptych Sundial and Compass a portable wooden sundial with compass, of German origin, by David Beringer, Nuremberg, dating back to the 1780 circa, in good age re...
Category
Late 18th Century German Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Metal
Antique French Ormolu Barometer
Located in Sandwich, MA
Wonderful antique French mercury barometer. Louis XVI ormolu style with elaborate cast bronze leaves and polychrome paint. Features a large squirrel tail thermometer and decorative s...
Category
Late 19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Bronze
French Louis XVI Barometer
Located in Queens, NY
French Louis XVI (18th Century) barometer with original scientific illustrations and mercury vial framed with gilt foliate carvings & ebonized ...
Category
18th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Giltwood, Glass
French 19th Century Gilt & Painted Barometer
Located in Baton Rouge, LA
A gorgeous French 19th century painted and gold gilt barometer with thermometer. The elegantly carved giltwood surrounding the French gray-painted case is in a rococo and laurel leaf...
Category
19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Metal, Gold
18th Century French Louis XVI Period Gilded Barometer by Evangelista Torricelli
By Evangelista Torricelli
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A gold, large antique French Louis XVI period barometer, signed by Torricelli in gilded wood and of oval shape with original scientific illustrations, in good condition. The detailed wall décor piece is consisting its original glass. Framed with gilt foliate trim and important pediment. Minor fading, due to age. Wear consistent with age and use, circa 1750, France.
The Italian scientist Evangelista Torricelli...
Category
Late 18th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Giltwood
French Neo-Classical Style Louis XVI Style Carved Giltwood Barometer Wall Decor
Located in Kennesaw, GA
This is amazing! It is a 19th century French Louis XVI style carved giltwood barometer. The crest appears to be a carved armillary of some sort with cascading laurel leaves and branc...
Category
Mid-19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Glass, Giltwood
Silver Metal Butterfield Dial Germany, circa 1780
Located in Firenze, IT
Shipping policy
No additional costs will be added to this order.
Shipping costs will be totally covered by the seller (customs duties included).
Octagonal silver metal dial inset c...
Category
Late 18th Century German Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Silver, Brass
A Brass Equinoctial Dial French 1780ca
Located in Firenze, IT
Shipping policy No additional costs will be added to this order. Shipping costs will be totally covered by the seller (customs duties included).
With hinged gnomon, hour ring and l...
Category
Late 18th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Brass
18th Century Louis XVI Giltwood Wall Barometer
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia
A beautifully carved and giltwood 18th century Louis XVI wall barometer having its original mercury tube and mechanism but presently with the mercury missing.
Category
Late 19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Giltwood
French 19th Century Bronze Wall Thermometer Attrib. to François Linke
Located in North Miami, FL
Original 19th Century wall mounted thermometer measuring in centigrade in the Louis XVI style. All bronze and very elegant thermometer attributed to François Linke. All weather m...
Category
Early 20th Century French Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Bronze
18th Century French Louis XVI Carved Giltwood Wall Barometer & Thermometer
Located in Dallas, TX
Decorate a wall with this elegant, antique barometer with attached thermometer. Crafted in Paris, France, circa 1760 and hexagonal in shape, the scientific instrument features its or...
Category
Late 18th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Glass, Giltwood, Parchment Paper
18th Century Parisian Giltwood Barometer Thermometer
Located in Dallas, TX
This lovely giltwood barometer and thermometer was hand-carved during the Louis XVI period in Paris, France. During the late 1700’s, barometers were typically only owned by wealthy families. Over time, barometers began to be viewed as works of art and could be found in middle class homes throughout Europe.
The highly detailed crown of our apparatus depicts a footed vase bursting with a floral display. The garland trails down in an arch shape until it reaches an angular platform adorned with molding and vertical fluting. The flowered swag continues behind the platform, transitioning into a pair of gadrooned leaves. Each gadrooned leaf terminates in a husked cornucopia overflowing with laurel leaves. A large circular barometer dial is positioned in between the cornucopias.
Under the barometer is a looping lambrequin that borders the top half of the thermometer. A pair of gadrooned leaves runs behind and through the lambrequin, flanking the lower half of the thermometer. A fluted base beneath the thermometer sits in a gadrooned cup.
The detail of the carvings on this late 18th century Parisian...
Category
Late 18th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Iron
Giltwood Thermometer & Perpetual Calendar Attributed to F.Linke, France, c. 1880
Located in PARIS, FR
Elegant Louis XVI style set comprising a thermometer and a perpetual calendar attributed to F. Linke. Each consisting of a metal plaque, painted with floral motifs on a beige backgro...
Category
1880s French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Sheet Metal
Set of a Barometer and a Clock, 19th Century
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Set of a barometer and a clock, 19th century
Set of a barometer and a clock in carved wood, from the 19th century, Louis XVI style, Napoleon III period, great decoration.
The mechanism of the clock is missing, but it is possible on request to put an old clock...
Category
1870s European Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Wood
Weather in Style: Exquisite 18th-Century French Barometer by Charles Desnioulin
Located in New York, NY
This exquisite 18th-century French barometer, crafted in 1778 by Charles Desnioulin (Signed), is a true masterpiece of both science and art. The finely carved wood frame, adorned wi...
Category
18th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Wood, Glass
French Late 19th Century Louis XVI St. Giltwood Barometer
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A very handsome and decorative French late 19th century Louis XVI st. giltwood barometer. Fine carvings of scrolls and foliate throughout with a lyre shape above the painted barometer...
Category
19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Giltwood
Pair of Louis XVI Ormulu Wall Clocks & Barometers
Located in Queens, NY
Pair of French Louis XVI-style (Mid-19th Century) ormolu wall clock and barometer set each of banjo form with Apollo mask above putti and ...
Category
19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Metal, Ormolu
Louis XVI Gilt-Wood Barometer & Thermometer, France c. 1780
Located in Atlanta, GA
A Louis XVI Period Barometer & Thermometer Combination, originating in France & dating from the last quarter of the 18th century. The workings enclosed by a gilt-wood case with carve...
Category
1780s French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Glass, Giltwood
18th Century French Giltwood Barometer
Located in Sheffield, MA
18th century French neoclassical barometer from the Louis XVI period. Now strictly a stunning decorative object with great style. It is no long...
Category
18th Century and Earlier French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Glass, Giltwood
French Louis XVI Style Gilded and Painted Wood Barometer from the Early 1800s
Located in Atlanta, GA
This French Louis XVI style barometer and thermometer features an exquisite carved giltwood crest with delicate foliage motifs. Below the crest, the thermometer, encompassed in a black painted body, sits atop the round barometer...
Category
Early 19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Glass, Wood
Rare Neoclassical Style French Giltwood Clock and Barometer Set
Located in London, GB
Rare neoclassical style French giltwood clock and barometer set
French, 19th century
Measures: Height 90cm, width 38cm, depth 12cm
This du...
Category
19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Enamel
French 18th Century Louis XVI Period Giltwood Barometer Thermometer
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
An elegant and extremely decorative French 18th century Louis XVI period giltwood barometer thermometer. The most decorative barometer thermometer retains its original glass pane enc...
Category
18th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Giltwood
19th Century French Louis XVI Carved Painted and Gilt Barometer Thermometer
Located in Dallas, TX
Decorate an entryway or library with this striking antique French barometer and thermometer, crafted circa 1880. Carved in wood and hand-painted in a vivid palette of faux-malachite,...
Category
Late 19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Giltwood
Louis XVI Period Giltwood Barometer
Located in Ross, CA
This beautifully carved Louis XVI barometer follows the designs of Evangelista Torricelli, an Italian physicist who was a student of Galileo and...
Category
Late 18th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Glass, Giltwood
Louis XVI Style Giltwood Thermometer/ Barometer
Located in Montreal, QC
The Louis XVI style giltwood case with ribboned crest flanked by trailing garlands above the wood cased painted wheel barometer
Category
19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Giltwood, Glass
Louis XVI Period Barometer
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Very charming carved and gilded acanthus leaf framed Louis XVI period wall barometer with glass covered central dial and glass thermostat beneath; bot...
Category
Early 18th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Louis XVI Style Dore Bronze Thermometer, Circa 1880
Located in Scottsdale, AZ
Circa 1880, Louis XVI Style Dore Bronze Thermometer. In beautiful shape.
Category
Early 19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Bronze
Antique Gilt-Bronze Clock and Barometer Set by Maison Mottheau et Fils
Located in London, GB
Antique gilt-bronze clock and barometer set by Maison Mottheau et Fils
French, c. 1880
Height 85cm, width 45cm, depth 30cm
This ornamental clock and barometer set were crafted by th...
Category
Late 19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Bronze, Enamel
18th Century French Louis XVI Giltwood Barometer
Located in Houston, TX
Lovely period French Louis XVI giltwood barometer with beautiful patina. This antique French Louis XVI gilt wood barometer will add a touc...
Category
Late 18th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Giltwood
18th Century French Louis XVI Giltwood Barometer
Located in Sheffield, MA
A stunningly beautiful 18th century French gold gilt barometer is a weather instrument with mercury-filled glass thermometer still in working order...
Category
1790s French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Wood
18th Century French Louis XVI Giltwood Barometer
Located in Sheffield, MA
A stunningly beautiful 18th century French gold gilt barometer is a weather instrument with mercury-filled glass thermometer still in working order...
Category
1790s French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Wood
French Louis XVI Style Gilded and Painted Wood Directoire Wall Barometer
Located in Bradenton, FL
19th century French Louis XVI style gilt and painted wood barometer. While not in working order, barometer has that wonderful old 'chippy' peeling patina. The carved wood frame and g...
Category
19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Wood
Late 18th Century French Giltwood Barometer
Located in Essex, MA
Period late 18th century giltwood barometer. Original gilding. Carved overall with globe, and navigation instruments. Foliate and neoclassical motifs. Maker signed.
Category
Late 18th Century French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Giltwood
Louis XVI Style Barometers and Thermometers by H. Dasson, France, Circa 1880
By Henry Dasson
Located in PARIS, FR
A companion pair of Louis XVI style barometer and thermometer finely decorated with gilt bronze acanthus leaves and seeds on green velvet, each with a polychrome decorated enamel pla...
Category
1880s French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Enamel, Bronze
French Louis XVI Carved Giltwood Mercury Barometer
Located in Norwich, GB
Louis XVI carved giltwood and painted mercury wheel barometer.
Eight inch circular painted wood register dial with central rosette within the scale calibrated from 27-28-29 and ...
Category
1780s French Antique Louis XVI Scientific Instruments
Materials
Giltwood
Louis Xvi scientific instruments for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a broad range of unique Louis XVI scientific instruments for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the Mid-20th Century, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage scientific instruments created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include more furniture and collectibles, wall decorations, decorative objects and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with wood, giltwood and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Louis XVI scientific instruments made in a specific country, there are Europe, France, and Italy pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original scientific instruments, popular names associated with this style include Eugene Hazart, Evangelista Torricelli, Henry Dasson, and François Linke. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee. Prices for scientific instruments differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,650 and tops out at $115,000 while the average work can sell for $4,875.