Ascale Onice Black

The dark onyx in the range: a deep black ground, not uniform, with greyish-green layers visible inside it and fine gold veins running over the top like filaments of light across the slab. It is a dramatic surface meant to lead a room — it is a background to nothing.

Ascale is large-format sintered porcelain from the Spanish maker TAU Cerámica: a blend of minerals fired under high pressure and heat into a dense, non-porous slab. It absorbs nothing and never needs sealing, and resists scratching, staining, heat and UV, so it works on a worktop, on a floor and on an exterior façade alike. Supplied polished or in the Velvet finish, in 2 and 1.2 cm on a 162 × 324 cm slab and in 0.6 cm on 160 × 320 and 120 × 280 cm slabs. One fair note: a black surface shows dust, water spots and fingerprints more than any other tone. It is a matter of a regular wipe rather than special maintenance, but worth knowing in advance — particularly on an open island.