19th century Framed marmoteca or lithoteca

Marmoteca or lithotheca.
Various types of marble and hard stones (portor, Sienna yellow, jasper, sodalite, porphyry...).
Framed in ebonised wood.
Italy, 19th century.

From the 17th century, the combination of aesthetic pleasure and scientific knowledge from the curiosity cabinets led to the creation of objects like this grouping. Initially presented assembled on table or pedestal table tops, then on medallions, cassettes and small pieces of furniture, the display of different marble samples in a frame seems to have been perfected during the 18th century.
Unlike the methodical sample cases that developed with the rise of mineralogy and gemology, our work is more of a color chart, reproducing the same species several times over, in a decorative perspective that pays homage to nature's curiosities without seeking to classify them.