ENTRY 2.
Tracing the luminous journey of the stone Alabaster — from its ancient origins in Tuscany into the hands of our skilled artisans.
THE ORIGINS OF ALABASTER
As early as the 8th century BCE, the Etruscans began shaping Tuscan alabaster into refined funerary urns, ritual vessels, and ornamental objects—treasures that still emerge from ancient ruins today.
Celebrated for its translucency and ease of carving, alabaster was also favored alongside Egyptian stonework for both sacred and civic spaces.
Following a period of decline during the Middle Ages, the art of alabaster carving was revived during the Italian Renaissance in the 16th century, with Volterra once again emerging as a center of excellence.
In the Renaissance era, alabaster became a medium for artistic expression, architectural ornamentation, and devotional objects. Its warm translucency and sculptural softness made it especially prized among Florentine and Roman patrons.
From the 18th century onward, local artisans began blending time-honored techniques with new creative approaches, giving rise to decorative and lighting pieces that seamlessly bridged tradition and contemporary design
Our Tuscan alabaster was formed approximately 60 million years ago.
It originated from the sedimentation of large amounts of calcium sulphate in ancient marine waters, shaped by intense volcanic and tectonic activity.
For centuries, the stone was quarried from the hills surrounding Volterra, carved directly from underground deposits using human effort.
Miners would follow veins of the stone through narrow tunnels, guided only by the soft glow of oil lamps, extracting blocks that would later be transformed by the hands of master artisans.
Our Italian artisans transform raw stone into luminous works of art.
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Each piece begins with careful shaping, followed by hours of sanding, carving, and polishing to bring out alabaster’s natural glow.
Their workshops—dusty, sunlit spaces filled with chisels, lathes, and half-formed sculptures—echo with the rhythm of tradition and innovation.
This distinct pattern is shaped by the inherent natural qualities of the internal stone itself, revealed only at the end through hand carving.
Impossible to predict,
but a record of its journey.
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At Orphan Work, this legacy is reborn in crafted lighting pieces: each alabaster form, shaped by skilled hands, becomes a luminaire that channels natural light through its milky crystal matrix.
A living tradition. Millions of years in the making, shaped by centuries of artisanal mastery into objects of light.
