Marble resistance to Weather

[Don Dougan <dondougan@zzzzzzzz>]

Bill & Bill;

I'll try to answer your overlapping questions regarding Alabama, Georgia,
and Vermont marble's working qualities as best as possible in one reply.

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Alabama marble as compared to Carrara marble

The Alabama marble I have worked is also sugary in texture, very similar to
Carrara Ordinario in working qualities - though perhaps very slightly
softer.  On the other hand, the Carrara Statuario I have worked is most-
definitely harder and denser than either the Ordinario or the Alabama, but
still very fine-grained.  However, in my understanding of the Italian usage
of the word 'statuario,' this term does not always apply to a single stone
quarried in one place -- rather, it refers to the blocks of the highest
quality (clearest) white produced by a quarry that generally produces a
predominately white stone.  In effect, this means there are a number of
distinctly different marbles quarried in Italy that are called 'statuario'
-- all with different working qualities even though they are all a
relatively clear white stone.  In other words, YOUR statuario may be a
different stone than MY statuario  . . . or not.

Most of the Alabama marble I've worked was purchased from a dealer here in
Atlanta that is now defunct (he had special-ordered the blocks of marble for
a client who defaulted), though some has been obtained from source #2 below.

The 65+ year-old blocks of Alabama white (from source #2 below) do crumble
more during working than the newer blocks of Alabama  "White Primo/Madre"
and "White Cloud" marble purchased from the dealer.  When working complex
small-scale forms this does need to be taken into account when rendering
fine details.

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Georgia marble

The Georgia marble with the specific large-grain crystalline structure is
quarried in Tate, and is of several types: Georgia White (predominately
white with some relatively small/pale gray/brown/green areas), Georgia
Cherokee (predominately white/palegray with some light-to-dark gray veins),
Etowah Pink (predominately a pale-to-deep salmon-pink with dark-gray/green
veins), Mezzotint or Pearl Gray (light-to-medium gray with occasional dark
veins), and Creole or Solar Gray  (heavily mottled dark gray and white).

Please note that the definitions and names have varied over the years as
'political-correctness' has changed - for instance, I think the name
'Creole' is now out-of-favor and is known only as Solar Gray on the company
website.  And, for what it is worth, the Georgia Marble Company has changed
hands three or four times since I began carving in the early-1970's - I
believe the dimensional stone division is currently owned by a French-based
corporation, while the marble-products division is owned by an American-
based corporation, which (in addition to maintaining quarries of their own)
buys the 'scrap' produced by the dimensional stone division.

The last time I got a quote for prices of fresh-quarried Georgia marble was
in the late 1980's (a large commission I ended-up doing from 1-ton pieces of
'scrap' Georgia Cherokee from source#2 below).  At that time Georgia
Statuary White and Georgia Etowah Pink were almost twice (about $175 per cu.
ft.) the cost of Cherokee or Gray varieties ($94 per cu. ft.).  The company
person I dealt with at the time was not Renee Pomfret.

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Newly-quarried vs. seasoned marble

Most of the marble I carve has been out of the ground for a good period of
time -- usually I am working 'scrap' from the following sources:

1). Georgia Marble Company scrap-pile in Nelson, GA (blocks acquired early-
to-mid 1980's) or from

2). a local (Marietta, GA) Georgia Marble cutting yard closed during the
Great Depression about 65-70 years ago (now paved-over into a parking lot),
or

3). scrap from various Italian quarries donated to/purchased by the UGA
Studies Abroad Program in Cortona (Italy)  where I have taught a number of
times in the last dozen years.

I am probably not the one to ask about  the working qualities of freshly-
quarried vs. seasoned stone.  Though I have heard about preferences from
various sources, the only one that specifically comes to mind is Jack C.
Rich in his MATERIALS AND METHODS OF SCULPTURE, who describes freshly
quarried stone as superior in that it is easier-to-carve than 'seasoned'
stone.

I do not lean either way because I can't say I have ever noticed the
difference . . . but then I cannot honestly say I have ever knowingly worked
the exact same stone both freshly quarried as well as seasoned blocks.

For me each piece of stone is a new challenge, and though I do try to take
note of the working qualities, how to work the specific form into the
specific block is the primary concern (i.e. - each sculpture is different
enough that I am not sure I am ever comparing apples-to-apples or apples-to-
oranges).

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Vermont marble

I also don't know if I have carved any Vermont Danby - not for certain,
anyway.

The cutting yard (not a quarry) that closed during the Depression (source#2
- from which I obtained several tons of stone before it was paved over)
contained mostly Georgia marble (quarried in Tate as well as other now-
closed Georgia quarries), but also had large amounts of Tennessee and
Alabama marble, as well as fair amounts of several Italian marbles &
travertine, Vermont black marble, possibly Vermont white and/or Colorado
Yule marble, and Carolina Blue (really dark gray) marble.

There are several blocks of stone I have yet to even tentatively identify as
to where they were quarried.

I have had students who have brought marble back from trips to Vermont, and
helping/observing them work, the fresh Vermont white seems to be harder than
the blocks of weathered stone I've personally worked and tentatively
identified as Vermont white.

Sorry for the not-so-simple answers to your questions, but it was the best
way I could answer them!

Good Carving to You,
Don

PS: concerning several unidentified blocks of 'marble' from the long-closed
cutting yard -- anybody on the list have any ideas as to what (or where
quarried in the 1920's-1930's) a predominately white, crystalline stone with
cloudy brownish/burgundy-colored veins might be?

In carving it is similar to a medium-hard marble, but it is NOT affected by
muriatic acid so cannot be a true calcium carbonate marble.

Thanks,
Don
http://www.dondougan.com