135. The imitation of marbles and other stones of a variegated character is much older than that of the imitation of woods by graining. This is no doubt due to the universal custom of public buildings in the Roman Empire being finished in stonework, marbles, jaspers, onyx and other variegated stones. The patricians vied with each other in the lavish decoration of their palaces, which were, of course, the real thing, but many of the merchants and plebeians who could not afford these expensive finishes, had recourse to an artificial representation of them, in their principal chambers at least. The marble imitations found so far do not speak very highly for the skill of the marblers of that period, and it must take a rank far below that of other mural decorations done at the same time presumably by a higher grade of artists.

136. The enormous use of marble and onyx in various decoration in this country, which has been developed within the latter part of the past fifty years, has been educating the people to the use of something better than the miserable paper imitations which have paraded as marble, or rather been a parody upon it. Such as these paper imitations have been, it is no wonder that people of taste have tabooed them from their homes, preferring a plain wall or washable varnished tile paper to those ludicrous misrepresentations.

137. For many purposes marble imitations are beginning to be used much more extensively than they were and good imitations always captivate the attention of people of taste, with the consequence that when once introduced in a neighborhood it soon happens that the man who is able to do a good job is soon overrun with that kind of work. That it has not become general is because, sad to say, it has almost become a lost art from long disuse. The many cheaper halls, restaurants, etc., in public and semi-public buildings where the real stone is too expensive; the many private vestibules, halls and bathrooms, where their use is almost imperatively demanded by good taste as the only permissible embellishment to relieve the monotony of the walls, by at least a dado imitation of good marble done in oil and washable. An endless variation in variously formed panels and cornices and surrounding stiles, where contrasting colored varieties of marbles and onyxes can be used, or their use in plain slabs as desired, will enable the artist who does the marbling to produce an individuality of work on every job. The good marbler is entitled to be called an artist, for it is only an artist who can vary this infinity of forms properly. Not that the execution of the work demands great ability in reproducing it—the artist’s skill is developed and shown in the proper arrangement and use of coloring, and also in the proper tracing out of the work itself, but that without the other will surely disappoint.

138. Many marbles resemble each other very closely excepting in their coloring, and even in marbles of the same quarry there will be found such variations in the forms of their veinings, agglomerations in those of conglomerate form that really no well defined description can be given of any of them. The general characteristics is all that can be said of any of them and some general directions given under each which will help the student to do his work upon right lines.

139. Marbles may be divided up into two great divisions, and even these are somewhat interchangeable, and it will depend upon the angle that the slabs have been sawed as to whether they should be placed in one or the other division. These two divisions are the striated marbles, which includes the veined and serpentine marbles, and the conglomerate, which includes most of the onyxes and marbles which show but little veining. As stated before this arbitrary division is sometimes misleading, as a striated marble will show up in chunky formation if sawed in a certain way, and again considerable veining will show in a conglomerate if sawed at the right angle. The placing them in one or the other of the two divisions applies only when they are sawed in the natural and customary way—squarely through the block where they show their character more fully. In some varieties, however, as in some of the onyxes, there is little regularity of formation and serpentine forms will be found bordered with large chunks of conglomerates, and the latter with more or less of well defined serpentine formation intermingled with it. This really is what makes the chief beauty of the onyxes. The students should study the forms taken by marbles thoroughly as possible in order to store up in their memory the innumerable variations of forms of all the several sorts of marbles which they come across.

QUESTIONS ON LESSON XXVI.

135. What is said relative to the imitation of marbles by ancient civilizations?

136. What uses of marble imitations are made of today?

137. To what parts of interior decoration are they best adapted to?

138. What is said of the irregularity of form in marbles?

139. In how many divisions can marbles be placed in?