Lot Essay
The table records the properties of William Spencer Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire (d.1858), whose Handbook of Chatsworth of 1845 demonstrated his interest in locally mined marbles. The marriage of Lady Charlotte, daughter of Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington to his ancestor William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire (d.1764) had united the Burlington estates at Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire and Lismore Castle, Ireland with the Devonshire estates in Derbyshire at Hardwick Hall and Chatsworth.
The Duke of Devonshire's own quarries at Ashford-in-the-Water produced 'the best black marble that is known' according to the Art Journal of September 1850. The firm of Derby Marble Works, owned by brothers Joseph and Thomas Hall during the mid-19th century, decorated these Ashford marble products in a unique fashion such as appears on the offered table. The Art Journal (op.cit.) describes the innovative process as follows: 'by extracting the colouring matter of the marble (bitumen) without injuring its surface; and extracting the colour to a greater or lesser degree, different shades are produced, giving it the effect of an engraving; indeed the method pursued is nearly the same as in aquatint engraving' (Carlton Hobbs, Catalogue III, item 5). The firm exhibited in the Great Exhibition of 1851 and their manufactures are discussed in the exhibition catalogue (p.251).
The Duke of Devonshire's own quarries at Ashford-in-the-Water produced 'the best black marble that is known' according to the Art Journal of September 1850. The firm of Derby Marble Works, owned by brothers Joseph and Thomas Hall during the mid-19th century, decorated these Ashford marble products in a unique fashion such as appears on the offered table. The Art Journal (op.cit.) describes the innovative process as follows: 'by extracting the colouring matter of the marble (bitumen) without injuring its surface; and extracting the colour to a greater or lesser degree, different shades are produced, giving it the effect of an engraving; indeed the method pursued is nearly the same as in aquatint engraving' (Carlton Hobbs, Catalogue III, item 5). The firm exhibited in the Great Exhibition of 1851 and their manufactures are discussed in the exhibition catalogue (p.251).