|
 Notation:
If you are not planning to go to Egypt, you can still purchase fine, hand carved
alabaster as well as "oriental alabaster in our on-line
store, the Virtual Khan el-Khalili.
As a friend of mine says, when we talk about
Egypt we have to talk about Alabaster. Everywhere one goes, there is alabaster
in shops, houses and of course, at the Egyptian Antiquities Museum.
The use of alabaster in Egypt dates well
back into the Pharaonic period of Egyptian
history, and this is very evident
when one visits the temples, tombs and museums in Egypt. New pieces of alabaster
from ancient Egypt seem to turn up constantly.
The ancient pharaohs used this wonderful
material for many purposes, including household items, ritual objects, and for a
number of different funerary purposes such as sarcophaguses and canopic
equipment. Some of the finest ancient artifacts made from alabaster can be found
in the Tutankhamun
collection of the
Egyptian
museum, where we find a variety of
different  items made from this material.
However, after the end of the pharaonic
period, little mention is made of alabaster until the time of Mohamed Ali Basha,
who used it to adorn his mosque at the Citadel. Known today as the
Mohamed Ali
Mosque, it is also frequently referred to also as the Alabaster Mosque. Its
construction was begun in 1830 under the Turkish engineer, Yousef Boshnak, and
but was completed after that sultans death by his son, Abbas I.
"Alabaster is a fine-grained, massive, translucent variety of gypsum, a hydrous calcium
sulphate. It is pure white or streaked with reddish brown. Like all other forms of gypsum, alabaster forms by the evaporation of bedded deposits that are precipitated mainly from evaporating seawater. It is soft enough to be scratched with a fingernail and hence it is easily broken, soiled, and weathered. Because of its softness, alabaster is often carved for statuary and other decorative purposes. The often-used term "Oriental Alabaster" is a misnomer and actually refers to marble, a calcium carbonate, whereas gypsum is a calcium
sulphate.
Raw Alabaster"
So we do know two different kinds of Alabaster, including the gypsum kind, which is used mainly for pure hand-made products and the "Oriental Alabaster" which is a much harder stone, similar to marble, and which today is only used for machine-made products."1
However, what's in a name? Even Egyptologists refer to "Oriental alabaster" (marble)
as alabaster, and it was this material that was extensively used by the Egyptians in sarcophagi, in the linings of
tombs, in the walls and ceilings of
temples, and in vases and sacrificial vessels.
Machined alabaster on the left, and hand carved alabaster on the
right side
In Egypt alabaster is found in two places, a few
miles behind the Valley of the Kings in
Luxor (ancient Thebes)
and the Malawi area . Some Alabaster factories in Luxor and Aswan prefer to
get their Alabaster material from Malawi because they can use trucks
for transportation, but the road to the area behind the Valley of the Kings is
not good enough for trucks to transport the stone, so they still use horses or
donkey drawn carts. However, each
 vein of alabaster has its own unique color and
characteristic. It is found in nature in bulky, irregular shapes, in different
sizes and at variable depths, mixed with other materials like marls or clay
which protect the alabaster from other exterior agents.
The handmade alabaster objects are almost
always very thin, lighter in weight, waxy feeling with a matte finish (not
shiny). Hand artisans can only
achieve this thinness of the product, not machines.
Its colors range from pure white to a rich creamy white, and sometimes
streaked with various hues of warm, rusty reds. Always
ask to have the pieces you are looking at held to a light to see the true
natural beauty of the colors and patterns.
It comes in various sizes and shapes of pots, vases, cups, bowls,
sconces, ashtrays, etc. Hand made alabaster is almost always more expensive then
the machine made alabaster.
Though it is beautiful, the machine made products lack the character and
translucence of the hand made alabaster. Because
the machines do not have the sensitivity of the artist, the machine made
products are thicker and heavier. The
machines also provide the highly polished surface.
The color most often found in machine made items is generally yellowish
to butterscotch with white. As does the handmade, it comes in a variety of
shapes and sizes.
Machine made "Oriental Alabaster) items
are usually more uniform and one may not need to take as much care in the
purchases of such items as when contemplating the purchase of handmade alabaster
items. Checking to make sure that the object is structurally sound and without
cracks is usually sufficient. However, one should not be mislead by a dealer who
claims that such cracks are normal (they may in fact be fairly normal, but not
in a quality piece of machined alabaster.
For handmade alabaster, one must make a close inspection,
including feeling the piece. It should have somewhat of a waxy feel, be very translucent,
light and the color of white or  cream with veins of a dark red. Be aware that
any richly vibrant colored items sitting along side the alabaster is probably
soapstone that has been dyed, not alabaster as some dealers will inform you.
Also, in hand made alabaster, look for wax deposits. Wax is sometimes used to
correct imperfections either in the stone or the workmanship, and particularly
on the inside of the object, so avoid such
pieces where there are substantial wax deposits within the item. Though hand
made alabaster is certainly not completely smooth, look for even walls on the
object, with even carving and fine carving.
Also, the veins of color in the alabaster are natural, and
they do not weaken the product unless one can feel a break. Often, the dealer
will refer to such a crack as a vein. The true colored veins give the alabaster
a very special beauty with mixed colors, but they must not be breaks.
 If one searches, most products in Egypt
are available everywhere. However, some items, such as hand
carved alabaster, are more prominent in specific
locations. While these items may be purchased in Cairo,
they will perhaps be less expensive in Luxor, where much of it
is made. Beware, however, that when visiting the Valley of the Kings, tour guides will almost certainly make a stop at an
alabaster factory. Keep in mind that the tour guide will get a
kickback on what ever purchases you make, so it might be best
to shop around a bit before making a purchases. Also, you may
be given a small item, such as a scarab, which will be used
then to raise your "guilt level" to purchase a more
expensive item.
After purchasing alabaster, care of the item is not
difficult, though it must be handled with some care, as any such object. For
cleaning, it is beast to simply use water and cloth, while avoiding the use of
colored cleaning liquids as they can leave spots especially on the inside of
some machine made products because they are porous and not protected by wax.
Water itself will work fine, and will leave no residue. Obviously, a dishwasher
should never be used to clean alabaster.
1.
Alabaster: Egypt's Rock of Ages by Sonny Stengle
Sources:
An original investigative report by Diaa
Khalil.
Archives
|
