Verd antique

Verd antique (obsolete French, from Italian, verde antico, "ancient green"), also called verde antique, marmor thessalicum, or Ophite, is a serpentinite breccia popular since ancient times as a decorative facing stone. It is a dark, dull green, white-mottled (or white-veined) serpentine, mixed with calcite, dolomite, or magnesite, which takes a high polish. The term verd antique has been documented in English texts as early as 1745.

It is sometimes classed, erroneously, as a variety of marble ("Thessalian marble", "serpentine marble", "Moriah stone", etc.). It has also been called and marketed as "ophicalcite" or "ophite".

Non-brecciated varieties of a very similar serpentinite, sometimes also called "verd antique", have been quarried at Victorville, California; Cardiff, Maryland; Holly Springs, Georgia; and Rochester in Addison County, Vermont.

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