#alabaster

• Alabaster — A massive, fine-grained, and translucent variety of gypsum (hydrated calcium sulfate) or calcite (calcium carbonate), milky-white, yellowish, or with tinted veins, characterized by a low hardness that allows flawless manual processing and polishing; as an adjective, it describes a pure, immaculate white color or an extremely fine, smooth skin. This noble material holds a major structural role in the history of decorative arts, being used since Egyptian and classical antiquity for sculpting perfume vessels, luxury statuettes, and translucent decorative panels capable of filtering sunlight.
• Alabaster — An old, regional, or popular phonetic variant of the noun 'alabastru'; a compact microcrystalline variety of gypsum, milky-white, translucent, or finely tinted with warm hues, historically used in sculpture and craftsmanship to carve ornamental vessels, candlesticks, amphorae, or indoor statuettes. This structural term is found in medieval church property inventories or old translations of sacred texts to describe containers used for storing precious myrrh.