Marbling
Marbling is paint made to look like marble or other stone, worked by hand in glazes, veining and spatter over a painted ground on columns, pilasters, chimneypieces and doorcases. We repair historic marbling and paint new in London, across the south of England and on selected projects around the UK, for Historic Royal Palaces, Hatfield House, the City livery halls and private houses.
In the Duchess of Kent’s Dressing Room at Kensington Palace, the chimneypiece is painted as black Portoro marble with Queen Victoria’s monogram in gold, part of Queen Mary’s 1936 scheme. We kept and cleaned it for Historic Royal Palaces, re-marbled the damaged sill in Portoro and retouched the monogram. Much of our marbling is repair of this kind. We also paint new marble and stone where real stone would be too heavy, too costly or impossible to fit.
Led by Chris Britain, Master Decorator, and Cathy Britain ACR, Icon-accredited Conservator-Restorer, with an experienced team. Chris has worked in the trade since 1974, the third generation of his family; he and Cathy founded Britain & Co in 2015.
Painted stone in the Armoury at Hatfield
Hatfield House, the Jacobean house built in 1607 to 1612 for Robert Cecil, takes the name of its Marble Hall from the stone. When the Armoury was redecorated in 2018, the great arched screen and its columns, between the Armoury and the Entrance Hall, were painted to match the doorcases of the Marble Hall. The colour was chosen on site against them, and the joints were set out by copying the coursing of the wall beside it.
In 2019 the work carried on into the Entrance Hall and the Armoury’s side lobbies. The plinths were painted darker to match the marble floor.
Painted marble beside real stone
In a Grade II* house in Belgravia the large marble areas are real stone, strongly veined in purple and cream. Elements in the bathroom were marbled in to match the existing marble, the veining worked in with a feather so that paint and stone read as one.
In a townhouse in Mayfair a plain niche shelf and its rounded edge were marbled in lime as a grey veined marble, to sit under a marble urn. In the same house the damaged side of a marble chimneypiece was repaired and marbled in to match the stone.
Repairs in a livery hall in use
Saddlers’ Hall in the City, rebuilt after the Blitz to designs by Leo Sylvester Sullivan, has marbled pilasters and piers through its principal rooms. When building services work damaged them in 2025, each damaged area was repaired and glazed back to match the existing veining. We worked across the whole pilaster wherever possible, so that the sheen stayed even across it.
At Dyers’ Hall, built in 1839 to 1841 to designs by Charles Dyer, the marbling on two columns in the Ante Room was renewed over the original. In the Court Room the scagliola columns were glazed to deepen their colour.
Carrara marbling in an Adam entrance hall
In the entrance hall of a Robert Adam building in the Adelphi complex, off the Strand, we marbled four columns and four pilasters in a Carrara effect. They were prepared and given a new ground, then the shafts were marbled with soft grey veining and varnished, with the capitals and bases kept plain white. The work ran alongside our research into the historic colours for the building’s two Adam ceilings.
We went back in 2024, when two of the pilasters had cracked down their inside edges, where they meet the panelling. The cracks were raked out and filled, the veining was painted back across them until each repair blended with the marbling around it, and the ground-floor columns were revarnished in wax varnish.
In detail
Selected work
The Armoury, Hatfield House
A new scheme for the Armoury of this Grade I Jacobean house, from the ceiling and its leafed bosses to the great arched screen painted as stone, 2018 and 2019.
Dyers’ Hall, City of London
Four rooms and the Grand Staircase of this Grade II* livery hall, with new gilding in 23.5 carat leaf, damask and trellis papers and a grained staircase, 2020 and 2021.
Also
Kensington Palace. The Portoro chimneypiece of Queen Mary’s 1936 scheme kept and cleaned, its sill re-marbled and the monogram retouched, for Historic Royal Palaces.
Saddlers’ Hall, City of London. Marbled pilasters damaged by building services work, filled and glazed back to match the existing marbling, 2025.
A Robert Adam building in the Adelphi, off the Strand. Four columns and four pilasters marbled in a Carrara effect, and two cracked pilasters repaired in 2024.
A private house in Belgravia. Painted marble on small elements beside strongly veined real stone, within a scheme we decorated throughout.
A townhouse in Mayfair. A niche shelf marbled in lime, and the side of a marble chimneypiece repaired and marbled in to match.
Common questions
Can you match our existing marbling? Yes. We match the ground, the veining and the glaze of what survives, so a repair or a new section blends with the old.
Is painted marble only for period buildings? No. It suits any room where stone is wanted but its weight, cost or fixing rules it out, and it is often used beside real marble.
Will you sample the marble first? Yes. The ground is matched on site against the adjacent stone and the glazes are worked up and agreed before the finish is laid.
What affects the cost? The number and size of the surfaces, the stone being imitated, whether existing marbling has to be matched or repaired, and access. We price from a visit, or from photographs and drawings.
Do we need consent in a listed building? Reinstating or altering a historic finish in a listed building may need consent. We work with your architect and conservation officer and can provide samples to support an application.
If you have marbled surfaces to repair, or a room that needs painted stone, call or email us to arrange a visit, or send photographs and drawings for a price.
See also: the Decorating hub · Graining