The Heritage Called Marble: How Has It Evolved over the Ages?

When you bring marble home, you not only take an incredible piece of stone, you also bring with it a heritage that is thousands of years old. There are thousands of pieces of work on marble that has withstood the test time. The ancient Greeks and Romans used the marble to decorate their houses. During that time, the marble was used in floorings, columns and many other parts of the house. The artists used them for their sculpture as well. Many of the constructions that had been made years back are still there- a fact that itself proves the durability of marble.

Marble fireplaces have been an extremely popular way of using marble. There are examples of very old marble fireplaces that have been made centuries back. In fact, when it comes to the marble fireplaces, there have not been many changes from the previous versions. However, to suit the taste of the modern times, they have grown smaller and a bit precise. But they have retained the same appeal and taste.

A significant point to note is that, some marbles that were very popular some two or three hundred years ago are still in the vogue. Thus, there is a steady demand of Botticino and Carrara from Italy, while the Estromoz from Portugal is still popular for the marble fireplace construction. However, with the passage of time various new kinds of marble have been discovered and now many kinds of marbles are available across the globe. Naturally, this has given a new range of color, texture, and shades to choose from as far as the use of marble is concerned. In most of the cases, the marbles are supplied from India, China, Spain, Brazil, Egypt and Norway.

As the supply has reached a new high, the price of the marble has understandably gone down. In the last two decades, different manmade marbles have been introduced in the market as well and they are cheaper than the natural marbles. However, the artificial marbles do not have the variety in shades and textures that the natural pieces have. Rather, they are plain and almost identical.

As can be understood a marble fireplace some 200 years ago was incredibly expensive. So, it could have been found only in the house of rich people. However, to keep the expense within the budget, people at that time used to install marble only at certain portions of the fireplace. The same trend can be traced today as the use of real marble in the hearth and back is a common trend these days. Apart from keeping the budget under control, this is also a good option for the electric and gas fires.

Though the advent of artificial marble has influenced the market, the demand and appreciation for the natural marble has remained the same if not more. So, people also use the fake fireplaces made with marbles to enhance the beauty of the house. The beauty of marble is not only limited to the fireplace. It can add charm from any part of the room –be it the kitchen, living room or bed room the effective use of marble can for sure enhance the look of the place.