The purple porphyry used to enrich this Palladian style marble fireplace has always had great symbolic and monetary value. Egyptian porphyry was known in ancient times as 'imperial porphyry' and was used in Rome for columns, vases and sarcophagi. The potent symbolism of the stone was also appreciated and collected by the Medicis, Louis XIV and Cardinals de Richelieu and Mazarin. See the Oxford fireplace in Portland stone.