Marble and Its Various Types

Marble is a wonderful natural material. It seems appropriate, therefore, that Taj Mahal, the wonder of the world is made of marble. It is really amazing to think how a simple limestone can appear to be as fascinating as marble. For centuries, marble has been acknowledged as a luxurious, royal and exotic stone that the nature has provided us. So, it is used in sculpture, decoration of buildings and thousands of other decorative purposes.

Like the stone, the name of it has an interesting origin as well. It is derived from a Greek word that means ‘crystalline rock’ or ‘shining stone’. This Greek word has also given birth to the English word marmoreal that means something like a marble.

However, if the greatest thing about the marble is its sheer elegance, its variety is not a less important factor. There are numerous different types of marble that has allowed keeping the stone always in the vogue. However, the white marble is the purest form of limestone metamorphosised into this amazing stone. In fact, it is the impurities that add different shades and colors to the marble.

Among the white marbles along there are different types as well. These types are usually named after the location of the quarries where they are derived from. Examples can be given of the Aegean white and Beijing White that are collected from Volos, a place in Greece and Beijing. Apart from that, there are the Black marbles. Here again, there are different shades and are derived from different quarries in Ireland, Spain and Poland.

To get away from the black and white look of the marble, there is onyx which is a beautiful natural stone that has a green color. Connemara marble is another one with green look. The Boticiena marble is largely brown. The Ziarat White and Badal come up in white and gray color. Both of them are derived from Pakistan. The Black and Gold marble appears in these two exotic colors. Tarwera and Tiipi have brown color, while the Chitral White appears in grey and white. India produces two different colors of marble – the green and white.

Danby marble, Llano Pink and Yule Uniform marbles are derived from the United States. Durango Marble comes from Mexico. Italy has a wide range of the marble derived from its quarries. This includes the Carrara marble with a blue-gray and white color, Luni marble and Nabresina.

Also, there are Brac marble from Croatia, Fauske from Norway, Macael from Spain, Parian, Penteli, Rosa Egeo Pink and Thassos Snow from Greece, Proconnesus Marble from Turkey, the red Rouge de Rance from Belgium, Royal White from China, Ruskeala Marble from Russia, Sivec or Macedonian Bianco Sivec from Macedonia, Vencac White from Serbia, Vietnam White from Vietnam and so on. The list of colors too, is as endless as the names.

Another unbelievable variety of marble is the different patterns. This is why the stone has been used in the landscape decoration over the years. The waxy look of the marble helps make the sculptures more real.