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Lot Essay
Ashford marble is in reality a type of limestone rather than a marble, produced from two quarries near Ashford-in-the-Water, Derbyshire, and which when polished takes on a deep glossy black lustre.
Its earliest recorded use is in fireplaces at Hardwick Hall in the 1590s, and it continued to be used thereafter in ornamental and architectural work. Glover's History and Gazetteer of Derbyshire (1829) refers to marble works at Ashford and Derby, where the material 'is wrought into articles of domestic elegance and into monuments, chimney pieces are sold at various prices, from 30s to upwards of £60, and beautiful tables of black marble, enriched with elegant engravings, are also made there'. At this time the marble was either etched or engraved.
The stone found spectacular favour from the 1830s when William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire (d. 1858), an important collector of mineral specimens and patron of the local craftsmen, used Ashford marble in massive doorways in a new wing at Chatsworth. W. Adam, then working at (and later to manage) John Mawe's establishment at Matlock, claimed to have revolutionised the inlaying of black marble; he published his Gem of the Peak in 1838 (1st ed.), which described Florentine mosaic or Pietra Dura in intricate floral and geometric patterns, and he supplied a 'magnificent table ... inlaid with a wreath of flowers and foliage' to Queen Victoria for Windsor Castle by 1842. Local craftsmen rapidly adopted the designs and techniques promoted by Adam, using other locally-mined and imported minerals and workshops were established in Matlock, Bakewell, Buxton and Castleton - all busy tourist centres with a constant demand for souvenirs such as vases, clock cases, candlesticks and ink stands. One such establishment was that of Thomas Walker whose `Royal Museum’ traded from 1855 until around 1870 as successor to the earlier business of Mr. Vallance. Walker advertised in Hall’s Days in Derbyshire, 1863, `… TABLES Of every description, Inlaid with the finest Specimens, beautifully Engraved, or with Plain Marble’, and in Bemrose’s Guide to Matlock of circa 1869, his advertisement stated the `Museum’ was `Patronized by his Grace The Duke of Devonshire and The Duke of Rutland’. In the 19th century guide book by James Croston, On Foot Through The Peak, 1868, James Croston wrote of Matlock `On the Parade there are several spar shops or ”museums”….the windows of which are crowded with articles natural and manufactured… The principal dealer is Mr. Walker, the successor to Mr. Vallance…. In the show-room we found a choice assortment of vases, statues, figures, and ornaments, in spar and Derbyshire marble … among the chief attractions we noticed some tables executed in Ashford black marble, beautifully inlaid with wreaths of flowers worked in different coloured stones’. A related Derbyshire black marble table inlaid with a wreath of flowers was sold anonymously Christie’s, London, 19 November 2015, lot 579 (£15,000 including premium)
Its earliest recorded use is in fireplaces at Hardwick Hall in the 1590s, and it continued to be used thereafter in ornamental and architectural work. Glover's History and Gazetteer of Derbyshire (1829) refers to marble works at Ashford and Derby, where the material 'is wrought into articles of domestic elegance and into monuments, chimney pieces are sold at various prices, from 30s to upwards of £60, and beautiful tables of black marble, enriched with elegant engravings, are also made there'. At this time the marble was either etched or engraved.
The stone found spectacular favour from the 1830s when William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire (d. 1858), an important collector of mineral specimens and patron of the local craftsmen, used Ashford marble in massive doorways in a new wing at Chatsworth. W. Adam, then working at (and later to manage) John Mawe's establishment at Matlock, claimed to have revolutionised the inlaying of black marble; he published his Gem of the Peak in 1838 (1st ed.), which described Florentine mosaic or Pietra Dura in intricate floral and geometric patterns, and he supplied a 'magnificent table ... inlaid with a wreath of flowers and foliage' to Queen Victoria for Windsor Castle by 1842. Local craftsmen rapidly adopted the designs and techniques promoted by Adam, using other locally-mined and imported minerals and workshops were established in Matlock, Bakewell, Buxton and Castleton - all busy tourist centres with a constant demand for souvenirs such as vases, clock cases, candlesticks and ink stands. One such establishment was that of Thomas Walker whose `Royal Museum’ traded from 1855 until around 1870 as successor to the earlier business of Mr. Vallance. Walker advertised in Hall’s Days in Derbyshire, 1863, `… TABLES Of every description, Inlaid with the finest Specimens, beautifully Engraved, or with Plain Marble’, and in Bemrose’s Guide to Matlock of circa 1869, his advertisement stated the `Museum’ was `Patronized by his Grace The Duke of Devonshire and The Duke of Rutland’. In the 19th century guide book by James Croston, On Foot Through The Peak, 1868, James Croston wrote of Matlock `On the Parade there are several spar shops or ”museums”….the windows of which are crowded with articles natural and manufactured… The principal dealer is Mr. Walker, the successor to Mr. Vallance…. In the show-room we found a choice assortment of vases, statues, figures, and ornaments, in spar and Derbyshire marble … among the chief attractions we noticed some tables executed in Ashford black marble, beautifully inlaid with wreaths of flowers worked in different coloured stones’. A related Derbyshire black marble table inlaid with a wreath of flowers was sold anonymously Christie’s, London, 19 November 2015, lot 579 (£15,000 including premium)