Scagliola

Scagliola, a composition made to imitate the more costly kinds of marble and other ornamental stones; and so successfully that it is often difficult to distinguish between the artificial and the real stone. It consists of finely-ground plaster of Paris mixed with a thin solution of fine glue, and coloured with any of the earthy colours, such as ochres, umber, Sienna earth, Armenian bole, and sometimes chemical colours, such as the chrome yellows, &c. This is spread over the surface intended to represent marble; and whilst still soft pieces of fibrous gypsum, marble, alabaster, and other soft but ornamental stones are pressed into it, and made level with the surface. When the composition is set hard it is rubbed down, and polished with the ordinary stone-polishing materials, which give it a very fine gloss. This kind of work is only adapted for interiors, because scagliola will not bear exposure to damp for any length of time; but its lightness, and the extreme ease with which it may be applied to walls, pillars, pilasters, and even cornices, render it very useful for the decoration of the better class of dwellings and public buildings.