Living with alabaster
Why the vessel you thought was decorative becomes the most useful object in the room.
- Published
- Mar 2, 2026
- Reading time
- 1 min read
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- By Julian Aurelian
Alabaster is an old stone — soft enough to carve with a spoon when freshly quarried, translucent enough to read a book by the light it carries. We have been sourcing it from the Volterra basin for almost a decade now, and the questions collectors ask have only sharpened with time.
The first week is the strangest
A new alabaster piece tends to look cold the day it arrives. Give it a week on a shelf with morning light and it begins to warm — literally, because the stone absorbs and releases heat slowly, and visually, because dust settles into its veining and makes it legible.
- Wipe with a dry cotton cloth — never vinegar or citrus.
- Keep ten centimetres from heat sources; sustained heat dulls the translucency.
- Rotate quarter-turns monthly if it sits next to a window.
I bought it for a shelf. Six months later it is on the dining table, catching candles.
If we do our job honestly, the piece you bring home becomes heavier with use, not lighter. Alabaster teaches patience, which is maybe the thing luxury is supposed to teach all along.
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