Carlton Hobbs 8007

October 29 2009, 4:52pm

Term of the Day: Lumachella 10/29/09

View of the top of one of the Colonna Tables: a pair of carved, red-painted and giltwood side tables with lumachella marble tops.

Lumachella is a type of limestone containing fossilized shells. The name comes from the Italian word for snail, "lumaca". The many varieties of lumachella are differentiated by their color, by their different locations of origin (if known), and by the the size and type of shells they contain. Many of the existing samples of lumachella were mined in ancient times, and their precise locations of origin are unknown. The lumachella used for the tops of the present tables is called lumachella orientale: it is known to have come from North Africa, and has a distinct dark greenish grey background color, with light brown and white areas made up of the oyster and sea snail shells. Other types of lumachella include lumachella di Gwalior (from India), lumachella pavonazza (“purple lumachella”), lumachella rosa (“pink lumachella”, from North Africa) and lunachellone antico.

To see more of this pair of tables, visit: http://www.carltonhobbs.com/viewAlternative.asp?strReference=8007