The Stones We Use: A Field Guide to Our Materials

Carrara Marble

White Carrara from the Apuan Alps of Tuscany. The world's most recognizable marble — Michelangelo's David is cut from Carrara block. Under strong light it appears almost blue-white; in shadow, warm cream. We use it for highlights, skin tones, and petals that need to read as lit from within.

Travertine

A sedimentary limestone from the thermal springs of Tivoli, near Rome. Its warm tan carries subtle veining and occasional voids — imperfections that catch the eye. We use travertine for mid-tones, earth tones, and any composition that needs to feel grounded.

Lapis Lazuli

The deepest blue stone available to us — quarried in Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan. Lapis was the pigment behind ultramarine in Renaissance painting. Cut thin, it carries that same impossible blue into the mosaic. We reserve it for sky, deep water, and peacock feathers.

Nero Marquina

A jet-black marble from the Basque region of Spain. Dense, fine-grained, and very hard to cut — our artisans' chisels wear faster on Nero Marquina than on any other stone. We use it sparingly: shadows, outlines, the pupil of an eye.

Tiger-Eye

A chatoyant quartz from South Africa and Brazil. The silky sheen that shifts as the viewing angle changes is called chatoyance — the cat's eye effect. We use tiger-eye in animal portraits where the subject's own coat or feather should appear to move.

Malachite

Green banded copper carbonate from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Malachite is soft by stone standards, which makes it easier to cut but also easier to damage. We use it only in framed panels where it will be protected from contact. Its color is without parallel — a green that no paint can accurately reproduce.

Our full library runs to over 400 materials. When you commission a custom piece, we will guide you through the selection, showing physical samples under your home's specific light conditions before we begin cutting.