Credit: © The Royal Society
    Image number: RS.10549
    Looking for a special gift? Buy a print of this image.

    ‘Calx carbonata’

    Date
    1804
    Creator
    James Sowerby (1757 - 1822, British) , Naturalist
    Object type
    Library reference
    R64216
    Material
    Technique
    Dimensions
    height (print): 233mm
    width (print): 145mm
    Subject
    Content object
    nature
       > mineral
    Description
    Specimen of marble, here termed ‘variegated limestone; or Tirie marble”, with figures showing darker crystals and impurities. Tiree is the westernmost of the Inner Hebrides of Argyllshire in Scotland and is where this decorative stone was quarried.

    Plate 79 from British mineralogy: or coloured figures intended to elucidate the mineralogy of Great Britain, by James Sowerby, volume 1 (London, R.Taylor & Co., 1804).

    The accompanying text states that “This beautiful limestone comes from the hill of Belephetrich in Tirie.. It is said to be a primitive limestone...admired for the white and red, blending and softening into spots, blotches, and undulating striae.”

    The plate is inscribed: “June 1 1804. Published by Jas. Sowerby, London.”
    Associated place
    <The World>
       > Europe
          > United Kingdom
    Powered by CollectionsIndex+/CollectionsOnline