Corsi Collection of Decorative Stones

| return to catalogue
view of stone 621

Corsi 621, approx. 145 x 73 x 40 mm, © Oxford University Museum of Natural History

OUMNH Number: 621  
Name and quarry location: Pietra del Vesuvio, from Mt. Vesuvius, Naples, Campania, Italy  
Geological description: Brecciated meta-calcilutite, with brown limonitic veining, occasionally widening into calcite-limonite-opaque oxide aggregates. Some of the brown may be filler.  
Comments: Like nos. 623 to 630, this may well be another 'marble … ejected mass' from the 'Fossa Grande', a deep ravine on the flanks of Vesuvius. Small slabs of the various stones from Vesuvius were sold to 'grand tourists'. For example, when Jane and Mary Parminter returned to England in the 18th century, they had their souvenirs inlaid in a table-top, now to be seen at A La Ronde, a National Trust property in Devon, England.  
References:  
Further information:
 


Corsi's classification: Class 8. Volcanic stones; i. Stones from Vesuvius  
Corsi's text: 153.1 Pietra del Vesuvio. Lava  

Full entry in English

| return to catalogue
Funded by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation Oxford University Museum of Natural History University of Oxford