Grand Tour Gueridon
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 Gueridon
Marble
19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Gueridon
Scagliola
19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Gueridon
Malachite, Marble, Porphyry
19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Gueridon
Marble, Carrara Marble, Porphyry, Onyx
Mid-19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Gueridon
Siena Marble, Statuary Marble
Early 19th Century French Antique Grand Tour Gueridon
Mahogany
19th Century French Antique Grand Tour Gueridon
Marble, Brass
1890s French Antique Grand Tour Gueridon
Marble, Brass
19th Century French Antique Grand Tour Gueridon
Marble
19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Gueridon
Wood
Early 1900s French Antique Grand Tour Gueridon
Giltwood
19th Century French Antique Grand Tour Gueridon
Marble
Mid-20th Century French Grand Tour Gueridon
Marble, Brass
19th Century French Antique Grand Tour Gueridon
Marble, Brass
19th Century Dutch Antique Grand Tour Gueridon
Wood
Early 19th Century French Antique Grand Tour Gueridon
Marble
Early 19th Century French Antique Grand Tour Gueridon
Metal, Bronze
Early 20th Century Italian Grand Tour Gueridon
Marble, Bronze
Early 19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Gueridon
Marble
Late 19th Century Italian Antique Grand Tour Gueridon
Bronze