The Alabaster Factory

(Below): Alabaster for sale at The Khan.

A couple of weeks ago, VB wrote about visiting the Alabaster Factory, but focused on an event involving riot police, and an illegally built small house the government was tearing down. Last week she went back for another visit, and got a personal tour of the factory, which is the subject of today's post. BTW, if the photos look whitewashed - they are. When VB left the factory, she had alabaster splattered all over her jeans. It looked as if she had been painting. If you enlarge the photos, you can clearly see alabaster in the workers' hair, and covering their clothing.



(Below 2 Photos): The alabaster filled yard, across the street from the factory.





(Below 2 Photos): The room where the alabaster slabs are cut down in to smaller pieces.




(Below): Hollowing out and shaping a small vase.


(Below): Exterior work.

(Below): The shape maker. This worker is making something that looks like a mushroom. He's holding the top in his hand, and the base is sitting on the work table. The younger family members draw their own designs for many of the items.

(Below): This man is making ridges on a piece of alabaster.

(Below): Another hollowing out, but of larger vases.

(Below): These vases were sold at Restoration Hardware for $49.00 in the USA. They have a sample in the showroom with an actual Restoration Hardware sticker on it! VB did not get a price, but taking a stab at it, these probably cost about 50-70LE (say about $10.00-$14.00.) The fellow with the baseball cap, runs the alabaster shop across from Road 9 Metro, and just underneath Drinkies (Maadi.)

(Below ): These vases are a bit more expensive. This vase has vertical, thinner striations, which is less common. We put an LED light inside, which really shows off the design.

(Below): This pitcher is made from a much lighter, and antique looking alabaster. You can put water in the vase above, but the pitcher below is more porous, and should be used only for decoration.

(Below): The alabaster shop has so many items (lights, vases, candle holders, dishes), but on VB's last visit she found fish. These are great and relatively cheap.

(Below): A slab of alabaster they gave me as a freebie. Now, what to do with it?!

As I was leaving, they also brought me a copy of the September Maadi Messenger Magazine, which had a one page cover article about their factory and shop. The article does not show the factory, but does go into the history of this family business, located in Mokkatam. VB would love to link to the article, but apparently, they are updating their site.

If you're interested, the shop information is:
Luxor Co.
Factory & showroom: First left on the road to A.P.E. - Mokkatam City, Cairo
Shop: Mustafa Kamal St. (Across the street from Metro, and below Drinkies, in Maadi)