ALABASTER CARVING - Watchet, Somerset

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ALABASTER CARVING

Polished freeform artwork

Late Triassic (200 million years old)

Watchet, Somerset 

A freeform polished artwork using natural pink alabaster from the cliffs at Watchet. Polished all over with a flat base so that it stands upright for display.

The cliffs at Watchet and Blue Anchor Bay, near Minehead on the north Somerset coast contain attractive nodular masses of alabaster (a very fine-grained variety of gypsum) which was deposited by the evaporation of saline lakes in the late Triassic period.

Alabaster is very soft, translucent, is easily carved and prized by sculptors. In the 17th century Somerset alabaster was used as a substitute for marble and it is still used today by local artists to create unique carvings.
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