Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
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 micromosaics — small 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.
Early 19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Marble
1920s French Vintage Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Metal
Late 20th Century Italian Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Stone
1920s Italian Vintage Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Carrara Marble
Late 19th Century English Antique Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Marble, Statuary Marble
Early 20th Century Italian Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Giltwood
1920s Vintage Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Iron
Early 19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Copper
Early 20th Century French Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Iron
Early 19th Century English Antique Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Terracotta
19th Century Antique Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Plaster
Late 19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Bronze
Early 20th Century Italian Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Mahogany
20th Century European Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Marble
Early 19th Century Antique Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Bronze
Late 19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Brass
Early 20th Century Italian Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Terracotta
19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Pine
Late 19th Century French Antique Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Bronze
Early 20th Century Italian Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Bronze
1870s Italian Antique Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Marble
Early 1800s Italian Antique Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Marble
Mid-19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Metal
Early 19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Marble, Serpentine
Mid-20th Century European Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Plaster
2010s British Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Mahogany
20th Century Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Resin, Fiberglass, Wood, Lacquer
Mid-19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Alabaster
20th Century English Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Limestone
19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Marble, Statuary Marble
19th Century French Antique Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Bronze, Ormolu
Late 19th Century American Antique Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Granite
1860s Italian Antique Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Marble
19th Century Antique Grand Tour Building and Garden Elements
Marble