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Grand Tour Furniture

GRAND TOUR STYLE

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 micromosaicssmall 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.

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Style: Grand Tour
Color:  Orange
Pair Of Italian Grand Tour Marble Obelisks
Located in Essex, MA
Typical form with different marbles.
Category

19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Marble

Hand Painted Ikat Red Flower Iron Tray
Located in ROCCAVIVARA CB, IT
The magic of the Ikat world reproduced by hand on this tray The details of the colors will enlighten your table. Each piece is unique and created by talented artisans.
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Iron

Pair of Antique Italian Grand Tour Models of Ruins in Sienna Marble
Located in New York, NY
A very fine and early pair of Roman neoclassical period grand tour Sienna marble models of the Temple of Castor and Pollux and the Temple of V...
Category

19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Siena Marble

19th Century Grand Tour Influenced Gilded Ormolu Ink Well, Stamped, Barbedienne
Located in Brighton, Sussex
A good quality late 19th century French gilded Ormolu Gran Tour influenced gilded Ormolu ink well, having classing motifs and Roman Centurion bust embo...
Category

Late 19th Century French Antique Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Ormolu

Pair of Regency French Ormolu Gilded Candelabras Featuring Turkish Figures
Located in Dublin 8, IE
Pair of Regency French ormolu gilded candelabras featuring Turkish figures supporting three foliate carved candle branches with urn-shaped bobeches. ...
Category

19th Century European Antique Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Ormolu

Related Items
Pair of Grand Tour Style Carved Alabaster Bookends Formed as Classical Ruins
Located in Ottawa, Ontario
A very good pair of architectural inspired columnar bookends, both carved in the form of ancient ruins of reeded columns, raised on stepped bases. Dimensions noted are those shown fa...
Category

Mid-20th Century European Grand Tour Furniture

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Alabaster

Grand Tour Marmo Rosso Model of the Tomb of Scipio, Italian, 19th Century
Located in Spencertown, NY
The red marble sarchophagus mounted on a slate base. Removing the top reveals an empty well.
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19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Marble

19th Century Bronze Dore Napolean Ink Well, France.
Located in Atlanta, GA
An Encrier set with richly-veined Verde Antico marble base mounted with pair gilt-bronze inkwells flanked on either side of a Napolean bust. The marble base with pen tray rest on sh...
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19th Century French Antique Grand Tour Furniture

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19th Century Grand Tour Bronze and Marble Roman Soldier
Located in Charleston, SC
19th century grand tour bronze and marble roman soldier. Great quality and detail.
Category

19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Marble, Bronze

Antique Grand Tour Pietra Dura Specimen Paperweight 19th C
Located in London, GB
This is a superb decorative antique Italian Grand Tour marble Pietra Dura mounted desk paperweight, circa 1880 in date. This splendid rectangular paperweight is exquisitely inlai...
Category

1880s Italian Antique Grand Tour Furniture

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Agate, Amethyst, Malachite, Onyx, Marble

A Grand Tour Italian Specimen Marble Paperweight
Located in Spencertown, NY
The white ground inlaid with specimen marbles and porphyry with ridges on 2 sides
Category

Late 19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Marble

Selection of Antique Grand Tour Marbles, Italy, 1850.
Located in Milan, IT
A selection of antique Grand Tour marbles. In an inclined display structure made of lacquered cherry wood and profiled in black (ebony wood), a coll...
Category

Mid-19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Marble

19th Century, Grand Tour Bronze Sphinx Statue on Sienna Marble Base
Located in Atlanta, GA
French or Italian, circa late 19th century. An antique Grand Tour era bronze sculpture of an Egyptian sphinx in the Egyptian revival taste. Mounted to the original sienna marble bas...
Category

19th Century French Antique Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Siena Marble, Bronze

An Italian Grand Tour Specimen Marble Paperweight, Late 19th Century
Located in Spencertown, NY
The round paperweight framed in black marble, with porphyry and sienna marble and other marble specimens. The center in sienna marble with carved bea...
Category

1850s Italian Antique Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Belgian Black Marble

Pink Marble Obelisk in the Style of the Grand Tour
Located in London, GB
A Large Marble Obelisk from Italy in the style of the Grand Tour collectibles. This piece would look perfect in your wunderkammer collection or set on y...
Category

20th Century Italian Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Marble, Stone

White Marble Stone Obelisk Made in Italy and in the Style of the Grand Tour
Located in London, GB
General note: Shipping quotes as supplied by 1stdibs are only indicative. We will discuss and figure out the best possible shipment method (and rate) for every individual object We...
Category

20th Century Italian Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Stone, Marble

Agate Grand Tour Obelisks
Located in New Orleans, LA
These impressive Egyptian Revival obelisks are crafted of dynamically patterned agate. The rare 19th-century models were almost certainly made in Italy during the height of the Grand Tour when the fervor for all things ancient pervaded the decorative arts. Rich in neoclassical elegance yet possessing an exotic worldliness, pieces such as these were extremely popular as Grand Tour souvenirs among members of the British aristocracy...
Category

19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Agate

Agate Grand Tour Obelisks
Agate Grand Tour Obelisks
H 12.25 in W 3.5 in D 3.5 in
Previously Available Items
Italian 19th Century Grand Tour Urn Table Lamp in Carved Alabaster Marble
Located in London, GB
An early 19th century carved and turned alabaster classical ‘Grand Tour’ vase, mounted as a lamp. Italian, c. 1820. Supplied with an off white dupion silk shade.
Category

Early 19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Alabaster

Grand Tour Souvenir Temple of Castor and Pollux
Located in New Orleans, LA
This model of the ruins of the Temple of caster and Pollux in Rome evokes the lasting grandeur of ancient Rome. Today just three massive columns remain from the ancient edifice, whic...
Category

19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Marble

19th Century Copeland Greek/Roman Revival "Elgin" Pattern Pedestal Bowl
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
19th century Copeland Greek/Roman Revival "Elgin" pattern pedestal bowl. In the Grand Tour style, the interior with continuous decoration of Roman/Greek...
Category

Mid-19th Century European Antique Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Ceramic

Hand Carved Orange Agate Semi-Precious Stone Bowl
Located in New York, NY
Hand caved orange agate semi-precious stone bowl, measures: 6" diameter x 2.5" height. According to modern healers who use stones in healing, orange agate...
Category

2010s Chinese Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Agate

Hand Carved Orange Agate Semi-Precious Stone Bowl
Located in New York, NY
Hand caved orange agate semi-precious stone bowl, measures: 6.75" diameter x 2.6" height. According to modern healers who use stones in healing, orange ag...
Category

2010s Chinese Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Agate

Italian Grand Tour Siena Marble Oil Lamp
Located in Stamford, CT
A wonderful oil lamp carved with the face of the Dionysus on a polished black marble base. Expertly carved depiction of the bearded god of wine with grapes in his hair. A souvenir of...
Category

Late 19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Siena Marble

Italian Grand Tour Siena Marble Oil Lamp
Italian Grand Tour Siena Marble Oil Lamp
H 3.125 in W 6.75 in D 2.75 in
Large Hand-Carved Orange Aventurine Bowl from India
Located in New York, NY
Hand-carved and polished out of a solid piece of orange adventurine. This 6" large bowl was crafted by artisans in India, trained from generation to generation in the art of stone ca...
Category

2010s Indian Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Quartz

Italian Grand Tour 19th Century Siena Marble Reduction of the Tomb of Scipio
Located in Worpswede / Bremen, DE
An Italian Grand Tour early 19th century Siena marble model of a sarcophagus from the tomb of the Scipios, after the antique. The sarcophagus of rectangular form in carved solid Sien...
Category

Early 19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Siena Marble

Italian Inlaid Box
Located in Rochester, NY
Fine Italian leather box with exotic stone inlaid top.
Category

Early 20th Century Italian Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Lapis Lazuli, Marble, Stone

Italian Inlaid Box
Italian Inlaid Box
H 1.75 in W 5 in D 4 in
Naples Giustiniani Grand Tour Etruscan Style Antique Dish
Located in Katonah, NY
Painted with Roman figures in black, white and brownish red on a glazed terracotta ground. Made in the factory of the Giustiniani family which began making fine ceramics in Naples in...
Category

1830s Italian Antique Grand Tour Furniture

Materials

Terracotta

Grand Tour furniture for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a broad range of unique Grand Tour furniture for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage furniture created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include decorative objects, more furniture and collectibles, wall decorations and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with metal, stone and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Grand Tour furniture made in a specific country, there are Europe, Italy, and France pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original furniture, popular names associated with this style include Bertrando Di Renzo, Giustiniani, F. Barbedienne Foundry, and Ferdinand Barbedienne. 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 furniture differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $45 and tops out at $365,566 while the average work can sell for $2,501.

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