19th Century Neoclassical Swedish or Russian Porphyry Campana Urn Vase

A museum quality early 19th century Paris porcelain urn. The twin handled vase sits on a rectangular porcelain base (modelled as part of the vase), which is decorated on all four sides with finely painted scenes titled 'Gene de Corrinte', 'Gene de Mytilene', 'Gene de Sparte', and 'Gene de Chiu' in reference to various Greek city states. The ovoid body of the vase is richly decorated with Greek key and stylized acanthus designs over and below a large gilt framed oval cameo of Athena on one side and a similar cameo on the other side bearing an undecipherable name. The overall background colour scheme of the vase is dark red/burgundy and dark emerald green, two colours which were more commonly used by the Dagoty factory in Paris than other porcelain manufacturing firms at the time. The vase is unsigned. Note: Pierre Louis Dagoty's porcelain was characterized by the use of vivid colours and the thick application of burnished gold leaf. He borrowed from the repertoire of Neoclassical ornament but his designs also included Egyptian and Chinoiseries motifs. Dagoty's elegant ceramics won him the patronage of Empress Joséphine. At the height of production, in 1807, he employed over a hundred workers, and exported his wares to Russia. After the fall of the First French Empire in 1814, manufacture continued under the Duchesse d'Angoulême, the only surviving child of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. Between 1816 and 1820, Dagoty worked in partnership with François Maurice Honoré. In 1817. Dagoty and Honoré received a commission from President James Monroe...

A Paris porcelain urn with swan’s head handles; beautifully painted frolicking cupids to the front, and matte and burnished framed musical motifs to the back. Some rubbing consistent...

A tall dark green/grey marble column; the rectangular column supports a larger tiered square marble top; the bottom of the column sits on a patinate...

This classic planter is carved from a single piece of Carrara marble. The wasted shaped pot sits on four large lions paw feet each of which are topped...

Porphyry Urn in rich shades of reds. Look close to see specks of white mixed in. Urn is in very nice condition with no chips or cracks. Monumental Urn that would set the stage in ...

A magnificent and monumentally scaled Italian early 19th century solid Porphyry and ormolu urn, circa 1810. The most impressive urn is raised by a circular base with a fine stepped and mottled border. At the center is an impressive and most decorative reeded design below the smooth elegantly curved body with richly sculpted scrolled handles at each side. Above the curved neck is the removable lid also decorated with a beautiful reeded design, mottled band, and centered by a striking ormolu acorn finial. All original gilt. Porphyry was Imperial Rome’s most prestigious stone for columns, vases, and other objects. The word “porphyry” comes from the Latin word for purple, which was the color of nobility to the Romans. Porphyry is considered the Imperial Stone of the Roman Empire. In the year 18 AD, the Roman Legionnaire Caius Cominius discovered a beautiful purple stone in the eastern desert of Egypt. It was a deep purple color with flecks of larger white crystals and was perfect for carving. This porphyry quickly became the most prestigious stone for the elite of Rome and Byzantium. For centuries the Romans quarried this treasured stone...

A monumental pair of neoclassical period, Swedish Porphyry Campagna shaped vases, circa 1810. These magnificent handcrafted urns are carved from the uniquely Swedish Porphyry stone, rest on square plinths. Purchased from Didier Aaron in Paris by Michael Taylor. A vase of this shape based on the Borghese vase in the Louvre is shown in a French catalogue of 1805 advertising porphyry from Elfdal in Sweden (H. Sundblom et al., Porfyr, exhibition catalogue, December 1985-February 1986, p.31). A vase of the same shape and size in Blyberg porphyry...

Grand Tour urn, of bronze, with a gilt and patented finish showing natural wear, having a column-snape urn-form; its down-turned bezel over its body, de...