Artificial stone

Description

Any mixture of cement or plaster prepared to imitate the appearance of natural stone. In early Egyptian tombs and Roman bulldings, walls were coated with Lime and Gypsum plaster then painted to simulate the appearance of natural stone (Proudfoot 1996). By the 16th century, recipes for artificial stones included marble dust, lime, and glue. Manufacturing centers were preparing cast stones based on Terracotta (Coade Stone) or Cement (Pulham stone, Haddon stone) by the mid 19th century for use in buildings, statuary, and decoration.

See Cast stone.

Synonyms and Related Terms

imitation stone; pierre artificielle (Fr.); pedra artificial (Port.); oxychloride cement; renders; casting stone;

Brand names: Victoria stone; Protean stone; Frear stone; Siliceous Concrete Stone; Coade's stone; Permastone; Pulham stone; Haddon stone; scagliola; pietra dura;

Resources and Citations

• T.Proudfoot, "Artificial Stone" The Dictionary of Art, Grove's Dictionaries Inc., New York, 1996.

• Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)

• Dictionary of Building Preservation, Ward Bucher, ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1996

• Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000