The Coral Industry

The coral industry in Livorno spans three centuries, from the seventeenth century to the first half of the twentieth century and is characterized by ups and downs, blooms and declines, decreed mainly by French and Japanese competition.
It was born with the first Jewish settlements in Livorno in 1602/3. It soon develops into a thriving international trade, which will then lead many families to emigrate again to England, from where the coral leaves for India. We know that both Grand Duke Leopold and Emperor Joseph of Habsburg visit the factories.
The eighteenth century is the century of the triumph of coral, the system of…