Vase – Stanhope Black Marble

At Stanhope in the heart of Weardale, County Durham the rocky bed of the river is flanked by the precipitous face of limestone quarries, their abrupt formation indicating the magnificent geology of the area, the Great Limestone.

The layers of its formation, known as beds, were locally called ‘posts’ and these posts had different names based on the nature of the stone at each layer.  The ‘Famp’ Posts, or Tumbler Beds, comprised dark grey limestone containing few macrofossils, which were separated by dark siltstone and mudstone.  It is from this Stanhope Famp that the Stanhope Black Marble comes.

It is a simple black stone, and it is this simplicity which makes it a pleasure for the sculptor to carve.

Deeper in the formation were the Fossil Posts containing the Frosterly Marble.

The vase is hand made in a simple design to the finest detail and polished here in my Lastingham workshop as part of The British Marble Vase Collection.  The collection celebrates the beauty of natural stone and in particular the exceptional colour and pattern variation found in British marbles.