EARLY 19TH CENTURY, THE ORMOLU FRENCH 19TH CENTURY

These urns correspond closely to no. 7 in the 1807 priced catalogue of the Taillerie de Porphyre at Alvdalen, Sweden, which was illustrated in the 'Prix-Courant des différentes pièces de la Manufacture de Porphyre d'Elfdal en Suède, qui se vendant à Stockholm Sous l'addresse de la Direction de la Manufacture des Porphyres d'Elfdal'. Such vases were often mounted, as the ciseleur de la Cour Frederik Ludvig rund revealed in a letter of 22 May 1799. The Alvdalen porphyry seam was discovered in 1731 and flourished in 1788 with new techniques introduced by Eric Hagström under the direction of Nils adam Bielke. however, production was halted after a fire destroyed half of the factory in 1869 (Exhibition catalogue, Porphyre, Paris, 1990)