A fine Derbyshire black marble end support specimen table

An octagonal indigenous specimen wood marquetry table, the tilt top inlaid on both sides with triangles and diamonds in an overall star design, the woods include yew, oak and elm, on...

The top of this table is inlaid with a large wreath of British garden flowers, including predominately white stephanotis, lilac, carnations, lilies, roses, lilies of the valley, fuchsias and two sprays of bright blue forget-me-nots, all against a profusion of leaves, raised on a turned and gadrooned baluster support with a tripod base. English, circa 1850. Height: 30½in (77.5cm) Diameter: 34¼ in (87cm) Literature: John Michael Tomlinson, Derbyshire Black Marble, Ashbourne, 1996, p.61, shows a very similar table with a circular top exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851. Ashford marble, as it is sometimes called, is in fact a type of limestone rather than a marble, which turns a deep glossy black when polished. Produced from only two quarries near Ashford-in-the-Water, Derbyshire, it was primarily used for expensive commissions. Bess of Hardwick...

An Ashford (Derbyshire) black marble pen tray, of rectangular form with two pen trays and a small circular well centred under a bronze handle in the form entwined serpents, the pen trays decorated with inlaid pietra dura borders. English, circa 1850. Ashford marble is a type of limestone which can be polished to a glossy black finish. It is quarried in only two sites in Derbyshire and has been used as a decorative building material since Bess of Hardwick commissioned a chimney piece of Ashford stone for Chatsworth. In the 18th century Henry Watson...

A circular Derbyshire Black Marble pietra dura table, attributed to Tomlinson. the circular top is inlaid in pietra dura with three deli...

Fine Sheraton Revival Mahogany Inlaid & carved Lyre end support table Circa 1900, Shaped Rectangular top with Boxwood line inlay, Satinwood Banded inlay around edge, Oval Shaped und...

Fine Sheraton Revival Mahogany Inlaid & carved Lyre end support table Circa 1900, Shaped Rectangular top with Boxwood line inlay, Satinwood Banded inlay around edge, Oval Shaped unde...

A fine derbyshire pietra dura specimen marble table top, circa 1820. The Ashford black marble top inset with numerous marbles, amongst which are...

Specimen marbles such as these brought to mind the ruined splendor of classical Rome that the 18th and 19th-century grand tourists encountered and indulged in. This tabletop was thus...