Breche Violette

Violet Breche marble is extracted from the town of Serravezza, near to the Carrara region in Italy. It is a very heterogeneous marble made up of hues going from white to dark violet, whilst passing through shades of pink, all combined together with a violet coloured cement.
Violet Breche is very similar to the Breche of Serravezza, where the cement is grey rather than violet.
Violet Breche is found in the same place as Fleur de Pêcher marble.
In his Dictionary of Business and Industry, Blanqui describes Violet Breche. “This marble that is frequently used on the most beautiful churches in Italy, and is found on several tables and columns in the galleries of the Louvre Museum, offers an elegant detail to monumental architecture. The quarries that produce it are several miles from Serravezza, and are found in the commune of Stazzema. When the fragments which make up Violet Breche are large, in other words, when the lilacs, pinks, and whites, are prominent, it can only be used for monumental architecture, but when the colours are less prominent and equally spread across the whole surface of the marble, it can be used to make fireplaces and luxurious furniture.”

The fireplace found in the Games Room in Versailles Palace was made out of Violet Breche, so was the fireplace found in The Chamber of the Pendulum clock in Versailles Palace. The Opera house in Paris (Palais Garnier) is also decorated with Violet Breche marble.

Bibliography

J. Dubarry de Lasalle, Identifying marbles, Ed. H. Vial, Dourdan, 2000

J. Dubarry de Lasalle,  Using marbles, Ed. H. Vial, Dourdan, 2005

Blanqui, Dictionary of Business and Industry, 1839.