page_title: Ashford Black Marble
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Ashford Black Marble / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Ashford Black Marble table top - work stopped in 1905. This picture of the 2D table top surface was created using GIMP from the picture in the url
context_page_description: Ashford Black Marble is a kind of dark limestone, which was mined from Ashford-in-the-Water, in Derbyshire, England. Once cut, turned and polished, its shiny black surface becomes very beautiful. Strictly speaking, Ashford Black Marble is not a marble formed by heat, but a smooth sedimentary rock, a hard mass of dusty minerals. To make art objects, Ashford Black Marble can be cut as materials of them and put together with other fine stones. Derby Museum has a diagram of Ecton Hill made from Ashford Black Marble and other minerals.
context_section_description: Ashford Black Marble had been used for decorative purpose since the prehistoric age. Bess of Hardwick was known to use Ashford Black Marble.
  Henry Watson played important roles in the development of the local industry of inlaying Ashford Black Marble in the 1750s. He was the uncle of Derbyshire geologist White Watson, and had a water-powered mill at Ashford in the Water.
  Pots, obelisks, and other decorative items of AMB were frequently traded during the late 18th and early 19th century. John Mawe had a museum in Matlock Bath that dealt in black marble. Ann Rayner carved Black Marble into pictures using a diamond. Many art objects of Ashford Black Marble are collected in local institutions, including those of Derby Museum, Buxton Museum, and Chatsworth House. In 2009, huge blocks of Ashford Black Marble were found underground in Derby. The auction of these was planed because these blocks are valuable. The rocks might have been abandoned when an Ashford Black Marble manufacturer moved in the 1880s.
caption: An inlaid tabletop
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