Alabaster jars were used in the old days to contain pigments, ointment, kohl, and similar commodities. They were also placed in large numbers in the graves, hence the quantity that comes into the market. The price is moderate, from a few shillings to several pounds, and one would hardly have thought it worth while for the forgers to copy them; yet it is now regularly done. But there is something about the old alabaster jar or pot which makes it somewhat easier to distinguish from forgeries than is the case with scarabs. In the old pots there are certain irregularities of make, a kind of lumpiness from the way in which they were cut out. The pots are thin and drilled out to the bottom with the bow-drill, and the outsides are worn. Forgeries are made on the lathe, and are turned out regular in shape. They are thicker, heavier, and not drilled down to the bottom. The work on the interior is rough, and gives signs of having been hastily done. Some of the smaller pots are made in two halves, an upper and a lower, and joined by a cement about the middle. Sometimes old pots are recut or re-shaped, in order to give them a better appearance. The ones most difficult to tell from the originals are those made with the old bow-drill, for here comes in the slight irregularity of shape, and the work approaches much more nearly to that of the ancient Egyptians, as it is most probable that the originals were made in the same way.

PLATE IX.

Plate IX shows various kinds of alabaster pots, all of which are forgeries. Of recent years, a demand has arisen for heads carved out of alabaster. As it is quite certain that the value of these would be considerable, were they genuine anticas, and the supply would be extremely small, the Egyptian has stepped in, and is endeavouring to supply the want after his fashion. Fig. 2 shows a head in alabaster. The style is of the Greek period. The workmanship is only fair, and carelessly done, the ears not having been formed at all. However, it represents a period when Egyptian Art was declining.

I remember an up-river man, who was employed on an excavation, picking up a piece of stone, and in his spare time fashioning a head out of it with his knife. Later on he showed it to his employer. The excavator looked at it grimly for a few moments. Then, remarking that the man was far too clever to be a simple workman on a digging, he discharged him and sent him back to his village.

A few years ago some life-sized alabaster statues of Mykerinos, the builder of the Third Pyramid, were found by the Harvard University Expedition. They had been considerably mutilated, but some of them were put together, and fortunately the heads were but little damaged. The statues showed three periods in the life of Mykerinos: youth, early manhood, and then a rather later period. The workmanship was exquisite, and the value of the statues was enormous.

It is safe to say that this discovery has not been lost sight of by the spurious antiquity makers, as alabaster is a soft stone to work in, and offers a fair scope for the exhibition of their talent. I have already been shown a very rough copy in alabaster of what one of these spurious antiquity makers called the features of Mykerinos. Fortunately they presented no resemblance, a fact which I did not impart to him.