Verd antique

Verd antique (obsolete French, from Italian, verde antico, "ancient green"), or verde antique, 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. It is sometimes classed, erroneously, as a variety of marble ("serpentine marble", "Connemara marble", "Moriah stone", etc.). It has also been called and marketed as "ophicalcite" or "ophite".