Corsi Collection of Decorative Stones

view of stone 625

Corsi 625, approx. 145 x 73 x 40 mm, © Oxford University Museum of Natural History

OUMNH Number: 625  
Name and quarry location: Pietra del Vesuvio, from Mt. Vesuvius, Naples, Campania, Italy  
Geological description: Finely laminated carbonate-rich tuff or volcanogenic sediment. The white laminae are composed of altered ultramafic clasts and black (oxide?) grains. The stone is crossed by later veins with alteration haloes.  
Comments: Similar samples in the Museum’s historic Daubeny collection are labelled 'marble … ejected mass [from] 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: Price (2007) 214. Other examples: Daubeny coll. 5435, 5436 and 5437, Oxford University Museum of Natural History.  
Further information:
 


Corsi's classification: Class 8. Volcanic stones; i. Stones from Vesuvius  
Corsi's text: 154.5 Pietra del Vesuvio. Altro [Lava]  

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