THE VASES PROBABLY LATE 18TH EARLY 19TH CENTURY, THE BASES FIRST HALF 19TH CENTURY

With the renewed interest in Ancient artefacts in the 1760s, the fashion for alabater re-emerged evoking the spendid Ancient vases made of this precious marble. In 18th Century sale catalogues, there is often mention of similar vases, generally without lids, but also as pot pourri and therefore with pierced lids. Antique alabaster from Egypt was often referred to as albâtre oriental or onyx d'orient, whereas more recently excavated alabaster, such as the kind quarried in France, was sometimes called albâtre de Montmartre (Denon sale, 1826; Robit sale, 1801), albre de Chelle (Brogniart sale, 1792) or albâtre de Lagny (1810 sale).