DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1398#0197
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TLATE 164.
A CHIMNEY-PIECE,
BY THE ALGERIAN ONYX COMPANY, PARIS.
A MONG the materials lately discovered, adapted for the purposes of decoration in building,
-^*- furniture, and smaller ornamental works, none can compete -with Algerian onyx for delicacy
of tint and beauty of surface; and the International Jury of Class 10c testified to the judgment
and good taste with which it had been brought into practical use, by awarding a prize medal to
MM. Alphonse Pallu & Co. for their " marbles and bronzes, for beauty of execution, and appli-
cation of onyx from Algeria." We have illustrated the fine mantelpiece exhibited by this company,
furnished with bronze-gilt mounts and lapis lazuli plaques : the centre subject, carved in relief,
represented young fauns at play. The extreme width of the slab was 4 feet 7 inches, and the
chimney with mirror was valued at £440. The clock and candelabra, ornamented with enamel-
work and bronze-gilt mounts, height about 18 inches, were valued at £120.
The material is remarkably well suited for internal ornament, balustrades, panels, and
medallions ; the large vases, mounted in bronze-gilt, served to show that such a mass of gold
tends to detract from the beauty of the marble, which is set off to most advantage by silver
parcel-gilt mounts and coloured enamel, such as might be seen on some exquisite small objects
exhibited by M. Barbedienne, as well as by M. Pallu.
The introduction of this beautiful material is quite of modern date. About the year 1843,
M. Delmonte, of Carrara, an enthusiastic and practical connoisseur in the use and nature of marble,
after exploring Southern Europe, Asia Minor, and Egypt, for the fine stones used by the
ancients, arrived in Algeria, and in 1849 his researches were rewarded by finding the present
material in the province of Oran, which was brought to light by the workmen on the fine of
railway then being made between Oran and Tlemcen, the ancient Berber capital. Having purchased
the quarries, he proceeded to work them, but with such slight success, that he finally, in the
year 1858, ceded his rights to a company, which, having a large capital at its disposal, soon
obtained for this marble the notice which it deserves. M. Delmonte originally gave the names
of "antique alabaster," "calcareous onyx," and "Algerian stalagmite" to this new material,
which appears to be a compound between marble and oriental alabaster. It was found by
analysis to be of a calcareous nature, containing traces of carbonate of magnesia, and variable
quantities of carbonate of iron, of a mean density of 2'730. At first it was found in the form
of stalagmite only, but, subsequently, in masses as a rock. It is found of all tints, from white,
more or less pure, to a bright red, a brilliant golden yellow, various hues of green,—at times in
thin lines, at times in masses; the surface is also sometimes iridescent, like mother-of-pearl,
productive of beautiful effects. It is cut into shape, sculptured, and polished, precisely in the
same way as ordinary marble or alabaster; and, owing to the restricted size of the blocks, the
company have established at their works in Paris a manufactory of bronze, to produce the great
quantity of mounts needed for the material, which, we have been informed, is valued at the enormous
sum of £160 the cubic yard. The company has already obtained some blocks large enough for forming
columns twelve feet in length; but it is evident that, at present, such an expensive material can only
be exceptionally applied. Oriental alabaster, to which the Algerian onyx-marble is closely allied,
was greatly prized by the ancients : the Greeks obtained it originally from Arabia, in the language
of which country it was known as " al balstraton," the whitish (stone); subsequently it w,as
found in large quantities in Egypt, where a town was named after it, Alabastron. By the
Greeks it was called " alabastrites," and sometimes onyx. It is described by Dioscorides the
naturalist (circa A.D. 40), as x/9oj aAafao-rgi'rijs o xcAoufisvoj o'vug; by the Romans "it was
termed " marmor onychites;" and this latter expression is almost synonymous with the name
given by M. Delmonte to the material lately discovered in the province of Oi-an, where, also,
ancient quarries of oriental alabaster are still found; fine slabs of which are procured, moreover,
from the quarries of Ourakan, in Upper Egypt, the Pyrenees, and Chili. Common alabaster is a
sulphate of lime; whilst oriental alabaster, like the Algerian onyx-marble, is a stalagmitic carbonate
of lime. We are indebted for the substance of these notices of oriental alabaster to Bristow's
" Glossary of Mineralogy,"'—Longman, 1861; a work which reflects great credit on the practical
knowledge and general research of the author.
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■■
^^^^^^^^H
TLATE 164.
A CHIMNEY-PIECE,
BY THE ALGERIAN ONYX COMPANY, PARIS.
A MONG the materials lately discovered, adapted for the purposes of decoration in building,
-^*- furniture, and smaller ornamental works, none can compete -with Algerian onyx for delicacy
of tint and beauty of surface; and the International Jury of Class 10c testified to the judgment
and good taste with which it had been brought into practical use, by awarding a prize medal to
MM. Alphonse Pallu & Co. for their " marbles and bronzes, for beauty of execution, and appli-
cation of onyx from Algeria." We have illustrated the fine mantelpiece exhibited by this company,
furnished with bronze-gilt mounts and lapis lazuli plaques : the centre subject, carved in relief,
represented young fauns at play. The extreme width of the slab was 4 feet 7 inches, and the
chimney with mirror was valued at £440. The clock and candelabra, ornamented with enamel-
work and bronze-gilt mounts, height about 18 inches, were valued at £120.
The material is remarkably well suited for internal ornament, balustrades, panels, and
medallions ; the large vases, mounted in bronze-gilt, served to show that such a mass of gold
tends to detract from the beauty of the marble, which is set off to most advantage by silver
parcel-gilt mounts and coloured enamel, such as might be seen on some exquisite small objects
exhibited by M. Barbedienne, as well as by M. Pallu.
The introduction of this beautiful material is quite of modern date. About the year 1843,
M. Delmonte, of Carrara, an enthusiastic and practical connoisseur in the use and nature of marble,
after exploring Southern Europe, Asia Minor, and Egypt, for the fine stones used by the
ancients, arrived in Algeria, and in 1849 his researches were rewarded by finding the present
material in the province of Oran, which was brought to light by the workmen on the fine of
railway then being made between Oran and Tlemcen, the ancient Berber capital. Having purchased
the quarries, he proceeded to work them, but with such slight success, that he finally, in the
year 1858, ceded his rights to a company, which, having a large capital at its disposal, soon
obtained for this marble the notice which it deserves. M. Delmonte originally gave the names
of "antique alabaster," "calcareous onyx," and "Algerian stalagmite" to this new material,
which appears to be a compound between marble and oriental alabaster. It was found by
analysis to be of a calcareous nature, containing traces of carbonate of magnesia, and variable
quantities of carbonate of iron, of a mean density of 2'730. At first it was found in the form
of stalagmite only, but, subsequently, in masses as a rock. It is found of all tints, from white,
more or less pure, to a bright red, a brilliant golden yellow, various hues of green,—at times in
thin lines, at times in masses; the surface is also sometimes iridescent, like mother-of-pearl,
productive of beautiful effects. It is cut into shape, sculptured, and polished, precisely in the
same way as ordinary marble or alabaster; and, owing to the restricted size of the blocks, the
company have established at their works in Paris a manufactory of bronze, to produce the great
quantity of mounts needed for the material, which, we have been informed, is valued at the enormous
sum of £160 the cubic yard. The company has already obtained some blocks large enough for forming
columns twelve feet in length; but it is evident that, at present, such an expensive material can only
be exceptionally applied. Oriental alabaster, to which the Algerian onyx-marble is closely allied,
was greatly prized by the ancients : the Greeks obtained it originally from Arabia, in the language
of which country it was known as " al balstraton," the whitish (stone); subsequently it w,as
found in large quantities in Egypt, where a town was named after it, Alabastron. By the
Greeks it was called " alabastrites," and sometimes onyx. It is described by Dioscorides the
naturalist (circa A.D. 40), as x/9oj aAafao-rgi'rijs o xcAoufisvoj o'vug; by the Romans "it was
termed " marmor onychites;" and this latter expression is almost synonymous with the name
given by M. Delmonte to the material lately discovered in the province of Oi-an, where, also,
ancient quarries of oriental alabaster are still found; fine slabs of which are procured, moreover,
from the quarries of Ourakan, in Upper Egypt, the Pyrenees, and Chili. Common alabaster is a
sulphate of lime; whilst oriental alabaster, like the Algerian onyx-marble, is a stalagmitic carbonate
of lime. We are indebted for the substance of these notices of oriental alabaster to Bristow's
" Glossary of Mineralogy,"'—Longman, 1861; a work which reflects great credit on the practical
knowledge and general research of the author.
'■■/St