The Art Of Marble Carving

There are many traditional products done in marble, like monuments & statues. Still, there are also some everyday products are also can be seen as pen holders, paperweights, book holders, cardholders, ashtrays, spoon holders, storage jars, coats, dinner sets, cups, sauce, candle holders, picture frames, mirror frames, incense sticks holders, flower pots, jewellery boxes etc.

TYPES OF MARBLE

White marble:

It is the best form of marble with natural fineness. It has the most significant market globally, and it has a huge demand for interior design & sculptures. White marble is resilient and stunning; it is also preferred in kitchenware.

Black:

This is quite bold marble when combined with white and gold colour cracks through it. It does offer many eye catchy combinations.

Red:

Red marble adds a stark contrast to anything, and this bright colour will make your interior stand out from the rest. If used properly, it can bring life to any room and works well with white, black, grey, or Calcutta marble.

Brown: 

If you are looking for a beautiful stone to match the natural tones of your home or business, Brown marble can be your choice! This stone works well on countertops and flooring while highlighting other applications without removing them.

Many other varieties of marble are there, like Pink, Yellow, Green, Grey, etc.

White marble is often used for engraving due to its purest & neutral look, with colours chosen for many architectural and decorative uses. The purest white marble found in makrana is used in marble carving here in Jaipur.

White marble is often used for engraving due to its purest & neutral look

FAMOUS MARBLES FROM DIFFERENT LOCATIONS AROUND THE WORLD

Egypt

Galala Marble: Galala or Galalah is an Egyptian limestone extracted from a mountain called Galala found in Suez, Egypt. It was named after the hill "Galala Marble". Its colours are creamy and creamy white, as variations vary depending on the quarry stones.

Sinai Pearl Marble: The Sinai Pearl is a light beige brown to dark grey in the world with hints of brown made of fossilized sedimentary rock in Egypt.

Milly Grey Marble, Sunny Marble & Alabaster Marble are a few other marbles found in Egypt.

Tunisia

Giallo Antico: also known as Numidian Marble, was a yellow marble celebrated in Roman times from the site of ancient Chemtou in ancient Symmithu.

China

Hàn Bái Yǜ Marable: A type of white Marble used in China for building and sculpting.

India

Makrana Marble: Makrana marble is a type of white Marble famous for use in carving and decorating buildings. It was mined in the town of Makrana in Rajasthan, India. It was used to construct a few symbolic monuments, such as the Taj Mahal in Agra and the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata. Makrana marble is on the Global Heritage Stone list.

Ambaji marble: Ambaji White Marble is known for its milky white colour with dark veins resembling a map. The colour and Texture are very appealing. Ambaji White Marble comes with white paint and black Texture on it. 

Belgium

Noir Belge: Noir Belge (Belgian Black) is a composite term referring to the black limestone found in several Belgian sites.

Griotte: Natural stone has a reddish cherry colour (Griotte is a French word meaning Morrello cherry), usually curled with tiny purple dots and dots and white lines formed by Goniatites or later cut. It is common in southern France, the Pyrenees, and southern Belgium. 

Czech Republic

Český Šternberk marble: Its an white marble found in Český Šternberk, Benešov District in czech republic.

Nehodiv marble: It's a grey marble found in Nehodiv, Klatovy District in the Czech republic.

Germany

Auerbach marble: German Marble is classified as such because of its composition, and it is from Germany.

Crottendorf Marble: Crottendorf is a German marble, and as such, it is composed of the same stuff that all Marble is primarily made of. Crottendorf is a relatively soft stone.

Greece

Parian marble: It is a fine-grained semi-translucent pure-white and entirely flawless Marble quarried during the classical era on the Greek island of Paros in the Aegean Sea.

Ireland

Connemara marble is an "Irish green" rare variety of Marble found in Connemara, Ireland, with a distinct green colour. It is commonly used as a gemstone and for decorations.

Kilkenny marble: It is a fine-grained very dark grey carboniferous limestone found around County Kilkenny in Ireland.

Italy

Carrara marble: is a white or blue-grey marble popular for use in sculpture and building decor. These marbles have been quarried since Roman times in the mountains just outside the city of Carrara in the province of Massa and Carrara in the Lunigiana, the northernmost tip of modern-day Tuscany, Italy.

Red Verona Marble: It is a variety of limestone rock which takes its name from Verona in Northern Italy.

North Macedonia

Sivec marble: It is the trademark of the dolomitic marble extracted from the quarries of Mermeren Kombinat A.D., near the town of Prilep in North Macedonia. The fine grain makes it ideal for sculpture and architectural applications.

Romania

Rușchița marble is a reddish, pinkish, or white Marble found in Romania. The marble deposit is located in the north of Caraș-Severin County, about 10 km northwest of the village of Rusco Montană, in the Poiana Rusca Mountains.

Spain

Nero Marquina marble: It is a high-quality, black stone marble extracted from the region of Markina, Basque Country in the North of Spain. This variety of Marble gets its black colour from naturally-occurring bitumen.

Sweden

Swedish green Marble: It is Marble from quarries in Kolmården, in the north-eastern part of the province of Östergötland in Sweden. It is fine-grained, with variable green colour and attractive veining, due to serpentines in the stone.

Turkey

Bordeaux: a beautiful grey hued polished marble from Turkey.

Crema Ella: Turkish marble in a subtle beige tone.

United States

Creole marble is Marble from quarries in Pickens County, Georgia, United States. It is coarse-grained and displays a white or grey background, while veins or clouds are black or dark blue. 

Etowah marble: also called Georgia pink marble, is a marble with a characteristic pink, salmon, or rose colour that comes from quarries near Tate, Georgia.

Well, many other marbles are famous in these countries; if you want to read more, click here.

How to define/choose a good marble?

The purity of the white marble is defined by the amount of calcium carbonate present in the limestone & the number of impurities in it. The purest white marble found in makrana consists of 99% calcite crystal, making it superwhite.

Marble Stones are one of the best options; true history. White marble has become an old way of creating beautiful pieces of art. When shopping for marble, flip through a stone and look for cracks or crevices. Sometimes small cracks are found along the veins in the marble area. Slabs with small cracks can be used in a low traffic area. If there are wide cracks, they are not good quality marble.

TOP COUNTRIES PRODUCING BEST QUALITY MARBLE WORLDWIDE

List of the countries producing best marble in global market

Turkey is well known & the largest exporter of marble. Turkish quarries are rich in marble and travertine and have the largest quarries on earth. While Italy is known for the best quality of marble globally, It has the finest marble globally. Greece, Iran & Spain also have a considerable marble market with different varieties.

WHAT TOOLS DO YOU NEED TO CARVE THE MARBLE ?

Various tools used in marble carving process

CHISELS & MALLET:

It is an initial shaping tool that roughens the stone. It comes in different cross-sections for making a different impact on the marble,& a mallet is a hammering tool used with other weights & sizes.

Traditional iron chisels used for shaping the marble

Modern & easily available chisels in the market

STONE FILERS/METALLIC FILERS : 

These are rock tools with the textured surface areas used for softening the marble.

Traditional rock filers used for finishing

Well, nowadays most artisans use these metallic filters.

Available metallic filers easily available online 

HEAVY DRILLING MACHINES: 

Heavy drilling machines are used to drill the raw marble into the required shape & size.

METALLIC ROTARY BURR SET        DRILLING MACHINE

Heavy drilling machines 

POWER CUTTING MACHINES: 

As its name suggests, it is used for cutting the enormous size of marble blocks to make them ready for carving.

Power cutting machine

POWER BUFFING MACHINE:

It is used for the primary carving process to create the depth & rise; different shapes of blades are used for different needs.

Power buffing machines

MEASURING COMPASS MACHINE: 

It is used for measuring & marking the dimensions and also to measure the depth and rise of the figure.

Measuring compass used to measure the dimensions

SANDPAPER: 

They are used for smoothing the surface of the object & to make it into the best shape.

Different variety of sandpapers are available in market

PROCESS: 

CUTTING: 

Firstly Large blocks of stones from mines are taken to various craft centres, and these are then cut out according to the required specifications. For simpler and smaller products, all the slicing is done with the handheld saw. These pieces are then sent to the carving experts.

Heavy cutting machines cutting big stones into small ones

MOULD MAKING:

Before starting work on an actual marble piece, the artisans make full-size moulds in clay to see the details and finesse to be included in the final sculpture. This is done for every new product so that they achieve precise finishing in the final sculpture. Also, these moulds help take dimensions and sizes for the final sculpture in marble.

Making of full-size moulds in clay to see the details

DRAWING & MARKING: 

Firstly, the pattern's rough outlines are etched on the stone as guidelines, and essential holes are drilled. Then the fine carving work begins, and textural details are added.

Measuring & marking the dimension using compass

CARVING: 

Carving is performed using a handheld drilling machine. Though the tool is operated by hand, it runs on a motor. A variety of bits are used depending on the desired intricacy and effect of the jaali work. Different bits, chisels and files are used for drilling, etching, engraving etc. Since the pieces are hollow, the amount of pressure while carving is crucial - a little bit extra, and the piece would break.

Actual carving & shaping of figure

HOW CAN YOU CARVE MARBLE?

Try some soft stone-like soapstone; this helps start the carving process with the actual pieces, and once turned off, it turns off. It's so easy that you can cut it out with a hammer and chisel from your home tool kit.

After the marble drawn into the basic figure the work of engraving the details starts

For initial practice, there are many soapstones you can stone carver can use depending upon the hardness of the stone defined by the mohrs hardness scale.

Soapstone has a mohrs hardness scale value of 1, where marble rates 3

WHAT IS MOHRS HARDNESS SCALE?

Mineral hardness measures its friction-related resistance, measured by scratching the mineral against another known strength in the Mohs Hardness Scale.

TYPES OF SOAPSTONES

• Seafoam green

• Lemon green

Medium soft

• Charcoal grey

• Deep ocean green

• Forest green

There is some other soapstone that can be categorized as a medium, harder & harder.

FINISHING & BUFFING: After carving, the work of final touch and finishing starts, initial finishing is done with sandpaper & stone filers, and then buffing machines are used to make it more soft and shiny. And hence the final product is ready for painting & polishing.

Finishing the figure using sand paper 1

Finishing the figure using sand paper 2

QUALITY CONTROL MARBLE PRODUCTS.

The inspector will regularly monitor your industry with daily quality reports and production status.

1. Ensuring the same stone

This ensured that we got stone blocks of the same size, uniform, new, fixed, non-cracked, cracked and hexagonal marble blocks.

2.color consistency

The selection of stone blocks was performed as control samples. The excavation was carried out from the pits/walls identified earlier to reduce the extent of biodiversity. This includes colour consistency and similarity in the capture of the final product.

3. During Product Testing: At the time of the 50% finished product, we can arrange for the inspector to come to the factory to inspect the Raw Material, spent development and finished product, Perfect shape & size of the design to be there, where the geometry plays a major role. Highly fine chisels are used to ensure the required shape.

If there is any defect or major problem, you will be notified. Timely ask the supplier to rework, so it can reduce the mass errors that appear in the product before finishing.

Different marbles have different qualities. While they require different types of machinery to handle, you must ensure what kind of machinery you are using for those marbles which are not slip-resistant or frost resistant.

4. Pre-Shipping Inspection: As the final product is ready, it's time to check the correct specifications of the product. Select sample / full inspection to check quality, size and appearance.

5. Container Loading Containers: Have to check the quantity, packaging, shipping label, size, product appearance quality and to make sure they are the same product we tested before; check the condition of the empty container (clean, broken, hole) and supervise the entire loading process to ensure that the goods are safely loaded. 

What are the measures to be considered while checking the marble products?

Fissures present:

Fissures formed when two different flows of hot liquid magma merged into a single mass. Fissures exist in marble when it is quarried. Many cracks appear only when viewed closely, but sometimes they can have larger sizes in the prominent areas of the statue. Some people express panic when there are fissures in their marble statues. But, cracking is not a mistake.

There is a difference between Fissures & Cracks. Fissures result from natural phenomena, such as geological and environmental forces, mineral lustre, and other conditions, and cracks result from artificial pressure, such as transportation.

Here you can see how the fissures look different from cracks

Veining quality: 

During marble formation, natural minerals such as sand, iron oxide, manganese and clay are incorporated into marbles and form coloured lines known as "veins".The veining should be light & there should be good flow, and it will decide the quality of the product. 

Veining should be light & there should be good flow

Colouration in marble: 

Colouring of marbles, or polychromatophilia, may result from natural exposure to stone for diversity. One of the most common definitions of natural marble colour is that the stone directly contacts the leaves or plants.

When allowed to remain in contact, these materials are absorbed through the holes in the marble and can create a fantastic colour. Usually, once the staining source has been removed or removes the discolouration. More the discolouration of the product will reduce its quality.

More the discoloration the product will reduce its quality.

Pockmarks present:

You to fill all the pockmarks so that they would no longer be visible using polymer paste made of marble dust and epoxy.

Proportion:

Marble work needs one of the most delicate hands & keen observation. All the proportions of the artwork must be as it is.

PACKAGING

Packaging plays a vital role in marketing as it is more attractive to customers. Each product is sold according to the customer's specific requirements to ensure that they are not damaged during transport and unloading at their destination. Specially made wooden pack boxes along with foam sheets & plastic sheets are placed around the product to ensure that it will not get cracked while handling it.

For more security, you can do it with double box packaging. First, the keeping product in the first box. There should be 'air' between your first box and the outer box; you can do that using any foam sheets or airbags. This is the only way to ensure that if your packet is kicked around the outer box, it will be impacted, and the art piece will remain safe. The inner tube should be 'pull down' inside the outer box.

Final packaging & handling 

CONCLUSION: 

Marble carving is an ancient art practised worldwide. It is a necessary part of luxury & fashion. Marble is a metamorphic rock reconstituted with carbonate minerals, usually calcite or dolomite. There is a massive demand for marble work, be it interior or sculptures, worldwide. It is being too pricey because of the hard work behind every single piece of design & availability of the marble. There are different varieties of marbles around various locations of the world due to geographical conditions; Turkey, Italy, Spain, India & many others are a few significant players in the marble business. Making important artworks of marbles & supplying them is a way long process & there is a crucial role of quality control with industry standards.

A good choice of stone for the living room ensures a reasonably high value. Marble is a highly respected timeless item that adds beauty and style to any interior design.