ALABASTER, is a delicate white soft kind of marble, used for ornamental purposes. The name is derived from Alabastron, a town of Egypt, where there appears to have been a manufactory of small vessels or pots, made of a stone found in the mountains near the town.
There are two kinds of alabaster : the one is a carbonate of lime ; the other is gypsum, or sulphate of lime. Many of the ancient perfume vessels are made of the compact crystalline mass deposited from water holding carbonate of lime in solution, which is found in many places in almost every country. It is easy to ascertain of which of the two kinds a vessel is composed; for carbonate of lime is hard, and effervesces if it be touched by a strong acid; but sulphate of lime does not effervesce, and is so soft that it may be scratched.with the nail. The term alabaster is now generally applied to the softer stone. This last, when pure, is a beautiful semi-transparent snow-white sub stance, easily worked into vases, lamps, and various other ornaments ; but it is seldom found in masses large enough for statuary; and, in deed, artists would be unwilling to execute any great work in a material so very liable to in jury. It is largely found in Italy and in Der byshire.
There are many ingenious modes of pro ducing slight modifications in alabaster, in respect to colour or some other of its proper ties. Alabaster may be bronzed, by coating it once or twice with size, and touching it with a bronze powder, of which many different vari eties are manufactured. By a judicious use
of bronzing, very pleasing effects may be pro duced in an alabaster statuette. Alabaster may be cleaned, by washing with soap and warm water, and rinsing. It may be polished, by rubbing it with dried shave-grass, then with a paste of lime and water, and lastly with powdered talc. It may be hardened, by coating the surface with a mixture of plaster of Paris and gum arabic ; or by heating, cooling, steeping in water, drying, and polishing. It may be stained by the same materials and in the same way as marble. It may be cemented when broken by a mixture of quicklime and white of egg. And lastly, it may be etched by covering it with an etching-ground composed of white wax, white lead, and oil of turpentine, and proceeding in the customary method of the etching process.
The alabaster manufacture is one of some importance in Italy. It employs numerous turning-lathes in Florence, Leghorn, Milan, and other towns. At Florence, especially, the beauty and uniformity of the alabaster enable it to be worked into ornaments of considerable size. The larger masses are cut with steel saws into blocks and pieces of various shapes, which are afterwards worked into the desired form by lathes and tools. Rasps, fine files, fine chisels, and graving tools, are the chief aids employed.