FIRST HALF 19TH CENTURY, LATER ADAPTED AND MOUNTED AS LAMPS

Älvdalen (Elfdal) in Sweden appears to have been the only place in Europe since Antiquity where porphyry has been mined seriously. Mining started in the 1780s and the works were bought by Charles XIV, the first of the Bernadotte Kings of Sweden, in order to realise Bernadotte's ambition to bring the splendour of the French Empire style to Sweden. During this period many items in porphyry were distributed throughout Europe as diplomatic presents and sold by the Royal Family in 1856. The works were destroyed by fire ten years later and subsequent production was sporadic and limited.