Of campani form with everted rim, on square base. 15 1/2 x 14 1/4 in. diam.Literature: Wolfram Koeppe, Anna Maria Giusti, Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietra Dure from the Palaces of Europe, Metropolitan Museum of Art, page 347, fig. 120.This classical porphyry vase exemplifies the fine hardstone carving in the western European lapidary tradition that was produced at independent Swedish workshops beginning in the 1780's. The vase cannot be ascribed to a particular master carver, but its form relates closely to those in drawings of about 1788 - 1800, by the Swedish architect Carl Fredrik Sundvall. His compositions for decorative objects remained popular into the nineteen century and are reflected in an illustrated price list of the Alvdalen manufactory in central Sweden.Porphyry was discovered in the valley of Alvdalen in 1731, but serious mining there was only begun some fifty years later, after Count Nils Adam Bielke showed samples of the stone to King Gustav III (1771-92), and the Mining Authority established a privately run workshop in 1788 with the aim of producing porphyry objects. Eric Hagstrom, the workshop's first master introduced a new mining campaign and within a few years was operating three grinding mills with the latest water-powered machinery. Despite the high quality of its designs and production, the business suffered financial difficulties, and it was acquired in 1818 by Charles XIV, founded of Sweden's present royal house, whose intention was to introduce the grand French Empire style into Sweden.""