"GRAND TOUR" PAPERWEIGHT. - Victorian Hardstone or Pietra Dura Specimen Desk Paperweight.

c. 1880. 0. A Victorian hardstone or pietra dura specimen desk paperweight. 18 oval hardstone specimens inlaid into a Ashford black marble rectangular body. Hardstones including malachite, agate, porphyry, tiger eye, etc, 20.1cm x 10.5cm x 1.8cm. Minor wear including small flaws/dints but overall still nice condition. Weight 1009g / 2lb 7oz. ** "..During the early years of the 19th century, one William Adam, having it is presumed seen examples of Florentine Pietra Dura in the collection of the Duke of Devonshire at nearby+ Chatsworth House, realised that the Black Marble could be employed as a suitable base material for inlay work. The work subsequently produced in Derbyshire was considered equal to the finest produced in Florence, and examples were shown at the Great Exhibition in 1851. The black marble eventually fitted in ideally with the sombre mourning period and mood of Queen Victoria's reign following the death of her beloved Albert in 1861.." - See The Decorative Art of Pietra Dura 2012.

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