time immemorial

January - Present 2026 

ALABASTER

Crystallising through evaporation from shallow lakes in an arid climate, familiar to us in Australia, this alabaster is a form of gypsum, calcium sulphate.

Carved into decorative pieces and as an architectural feature stone, it has been used for thousands of years, back to ancient Mesopotamia. Here, this similar-looking ‘Egyptian alabaster’ is calcium carbonate. Reference to an alabaster jar, containing expensive perfume, appears in the Bible.

This strangely weathered and heavy piece was collected in the early 1970’s from a beach in South Wales, eroded from cliffs of red and green mudstones of Triassic-age, deposited some 220 million years old. It has been carried awkwardly from house-to-house multiple times in the UK and Australia.  It is time, finally, for its day once more in the sun.