Ashford Black Marble
Derby Museum and Art Gallery has collections of worked and part-worked items of Ashford Black Marble, got from an inlaying workshop owned by the Tomlinson family. This collection includes pieces of stones which were cut and ready to put into the black marble background. Forget-me-not and lily of the valley were typically designed. Various stones were used with Ashford Black Marble: Greys, blues and purples stones are from Monyash. "Rosewood" from Nettler Dale in Sheldon is a kind of barytes and has red and white layers. Castleton Blue John from Crich is a kind of flourspar and has purple and yellow colors. "Birds-Eye" rock has a design made from the fossils in it. "Duke's Red" is so valuable that it was stored at Chatsworth House. The tabletop design illustrated shows some of the combinations described here.