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In the ambit of the market's current preference
for marble over siliceous materials, which we
discussed in an earlier article (Market Trends:
Beige Limestones and Travertines), there is also
a particular demand for especially beautiful
materials.
These are primarily marbles valued for their
striking chromatic effects, whether they be
single colors or, more frequently, polychrome
combinations which, together with interesting
patterns, paint very unusual pictures that are
often deeply expressive.
In fact, while there is no definition for premium
marbles that differentiates them from the more
common ones, as a general rule we can say that a
premium marble is truly such when factors such as
availability, workability, use and cost (which
normally influence the real commercial potential
of a stone material) are less important than its
esthetic qualities.
Basically, while a routine material has to adapt
to the market in order to be a success, in the
case of a premium one it is the market that
adapts to its specific characteristics, striving
to optimize its use.
And in fact, in the case of premium marbles, the
criteria for evaluating the factors we cited
above are often the opposite of those for normal
materials. Limited availability is viewed as
rareness, signifying worth and justifying high
cost, which limits utilization to a certain range
of users. However, this can pose problems (and
the examples are many) when wanting to use a
premium - and therefore rare - material in the
amounts usually required for a common one.
It is important to stress that premium material
use is often directed towards creating a small
object whose full esthetic value can be
appreciated up close, tending to valorize it as a
unique, unrepeatable piece rather than one that
can be to some extent standardized.
The most meaningful example from this standpoint
is using a premium material as a decorative
element in compositions created with less fine
ones. The skilful use of even minimal quantities
of premium marble can considerably increase the
worth of an otherwise dull creation lacking in
expressive character.
Of course, this was not always so. Throughout
history the concept of fine marble has gone
through many changes, depending not only on the
tastes of the times but also - and above all - on
the evolution of art and architecture. Among the
ancient Egyptians, for example (the first to give
a specifically esthetic purpose to building
stones), the most prized materials were mainly
siliceous, due to their great resistance to
natural deterioration. Granite, basalt and
porphyry were specifically used to create works
of high symbolic work, often directly
representing the sovereignty's power.
The Greeks instead preferred colored marbles, to
the point that it was common practice to
embellish the white marble of sculpture and
temples by adding colors and even gold leaf.
But it was in ancient Rome that the premium
marble concept took on a specific significance,
making distinctions between the esthetic values
of various varieties and hence giving them
different market prices. Preference was above all
for colored marbles, used to make decorative
interior wall elements (crustae), while pure
white marble was used for commemorative statues.
As the centuries passed and stone was used mainly
to build and pave churches (comatesque art),
esthetics gave way to preferences for materials
with great mechanical resistance.
The Renaissance witnessed a return to the taste
for colored, easy-to-work marbles, and they were
used for incredible, custom-made inlay works to
decorate tabletops and furniture.
In subsequent centuries, as well as being
appreciated for their beauty, premium marbles for
the first time took on a definite historical
value, which increased in proportion to their
rarity. Here, however, their use was not for
architectural purposes, and even less so for
building in the broader sense. These pieces of
fine marble were relics coming from ruins or from
the dismantling of earlier works, prevalently
from ancient Rome, and were gathered into
scholarly collections given great archeological
value.
Finally, in the 19th century, in the wake of the
reborn taste for Greek and Roman art that led to
the Neoclassical, premium marbles were considered
to be the very pure, monochromatic white ones,
indubitably more suited for sculpture.
We have already given today's definition of fine
marble, but it is worthwhile emphasizing how its
changing definitions throughout history
correspond to similar variations in the modern
market, in this case based mainly on fashions. In
fact, the esthetic parameters on which the
current concept of premium marble are based are
by their very nature extremely sensitive to the
changes in taste dictated by trends in fashion.
This obviously leads to great uncertainties on
the commercial level, increasing the risks
involved in putting new varieties on the market.
Right now a preeminent role is being played by
breccias. Among these are long-known materials
like Italian Breccia Pernice and French Breche de
Vendome and Sarrancolin Opera Fantastico, but
there are also others that have just recently
appeared such as Rain Forest (both Green and
Brown) from India and the Breccia Antica
extracted in Italy.
Also deserving mention are the new blues:
Sodalite Blue Royal Sapo, with a deep, more or
less uniform color, and Sodalite Blue Nuvolata, a
chromatic variety featuring whitish 'clouds'.
Striking among materials with a black background
is Pakistan's Black & Gold, while in the onyx
family interest is being aroused in Alabastro
Egiziano, along with other varieties found in the
Arco Iris V.C., the most important of which are
White Onyx and Golden Brown.
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