19th Century Italian Alabaster Foliate Comports (Pair)
You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.
Subscribe Now to view actual auction price for this item
When you subscribe, you have the option of setting the currency in which to display prices to $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.
- Alabaster - Alabaster is soft natural stone used for statuary, with a similar appearance to marble, but easier to work with. As it is softer than marble, an item made from alabaster can be scratched with a metal object, and an alabaster item does not polish to a high surface gloss like marble.
Alabaster objects can be semi-translucent. Alabaster occurs in a pure white form and also with veining from dirt. Colours vary from white through yellow and pink to brown. The veining is usually green or black but can be multicoloured.
Being semi-translucent, alabaster is often used for the bowls of figural lamps, with the figure itself being either alabaster or marble. - Foliate - Decorated with leaves or leaf-like forms.
This item has been included into following indexes:
Visually similar items
A pair of reconstituted fruit and flower finials, approximately 40 cm high
A pair of plated Rococo candlesticks. 27 cm high.
Topazio, Porto, 20th century, silver figural comport dish in the form of a putti supporting a bowl embossed with floral garlands, on pedestal base, marked 'Topazio 0.925'. Height 34.7 cm weight 1734 g.
An Italian marble urn on pedestal carved with grapes and floral garland, late 19th century. Provenance: The Nick Raftopoulos Collection, Melbourne