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Campan Grand mélange ( red and green Campan)

Two varieties of Campan marble are available to make your custom mantel, the Grand Mélange variety and the Green one.


The large mantel in the small dining room in the apartments of Napoleon III in the Louvre was made of Grand Mélange Campan marble by Simouillard, circa 1860. It is quite comparable in design to the custom-made "Ducs de Nantes" mantel we offer.
The Hotel Lambert also retains a Louis XV style mantel, made of Campan marble, in the Salon of Spain. Our custom-made "Prince de Soubise" mantel is very similar to the one in the Hotel Lambert.


A more ancient use of this marble can be seen in the nine mantels from the sixteenth century Château de Cadillac in Gironde that have Campan marble elements.

The Grand Mélange Campan quarry is located in a place called Espiadet on the plateau of Payolle, in the district of Sainte-Marie-de-Campan (Hautes-Pyrénées). It was opened in Antiquity, exploited throughout the Middle Ages, temporarily closed and reopened in the sixteenth century (D. Bertin, circa 1550). In 1692, it was decreed  "Royal quarry" exclusively providing for the construction works of Louis XIV. Exploited until the twentieth century, the quarry is currently closed.

The marbles of the Campan valley, in the Hautes-Pyrenees, are very famous. They have all sorts of color combinations, but with their nodular structure they are immediately recognizable. The quarries have been exploited since the first century BC by the Romans. There are several quarries, including Pont de la Taule, but the best known source is the valley of Campan.
These marbles were exclusively reserved for the use of King Louis XIV. They were widely used for interior decoration of the Palace of Versailles and other royal buildings. Campan marble was also used to decorate furniture; the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw widespread use of these marbles.

 

We actually have a block of Campan grand mélange that was salvaged fom the quarry. The quarry is closed and this marble cannot be found any more.

 

 

 

 

 
Campan Grand mélange ( red and green Campan) Campan Grand mélange ( red and green Campan) Campan Grand mélange ( red and green Campan)