ALABASTER CANDLE HOLDERS

A fine grained natural stone, soft enough to carve by hand and translucent enough to pass light. On the Mohs scale it sits between one and two, so a fingernail marks it. That softness is the reason a holder can be turned this thin, and the reason it asks to be handled gently.

The light does not stop at the wall. It travels through the stone and leaves on the other side, pale where the wall is thin and deep where it thickens. It is also why the banding only appears once the light is on, and why an unlit holder looks like a different object.

An LED tea light, and you choose it yourself. The holder is sold as the stone alone, so the lights you already have will do, and the brighter the light the further it reaches through the stone.

Please do not. This is the one rule worth keeping with alabaster. An open flame drives soot and wax into the pores where they stay, and the heat works on a stone that is soft and cut thin, so it can crack. A battery tea light gives the same glow and takes none of that risk. If you ever do burn a candle in one, put a layer of fine sand in the bottom first, and know that you are taking a chance with the piece.

A soft dry cloth, and nothing else. No water, no cleaning products, no abrasive sponge. Dust wipes off dry, where a damp cloth pushes it into the surface instead.

Better not. The stone is porous and the softer kind gives way to water over time, so a wet ring or a standing spill dulls the surface and leaves a mark that does not come out. Wipe a spill straight away and dry the stone rather than let it sit.

On a covered terrace on a dry evening, yes, and it is at its best there once the sun is down. Rain and frost do real damage to alabaster, so it comes back in at the end of the night.

White runs from almost clear to warm ivory, brown from honey to deep amber, and the banding falls differently in every block. You choose a colour, not a pattern. Each tone has its own page: white alabaster candle holders and brown alabaster candle holders.

Egypt. The shapes, the tones and the stone itself were chosen on the spot, in the workshops near Luxor where alabaster has been quarried and turned for generations.

Pick the shapes you want and keep real difference in height: two pieces of the same size read as a pair of objects, three at different heights read as light. If you would rather have it decided for you, the ready made groupings are under alabaster candle holder sets, and the same stone appears as a lampshade under alabaster lamps.