An uplighter lamp made from Italian alabaster of white and brown types; the base is 5 inches (13 cm) in diameter

Alabaster vase from the tomb of Tutankhamun

Alabaster is a name applied to varieties of two distinct minerals, when used as a material: gypsum (a hydrous sulfate of calcium) and calcite (a carbonate of calcium). The latter is the alabaster of the present day; generally, the former is the alabaster of the ancients. Both are easy to work, with an attractive appearance, and have been used for making a variety of artworks and objects, especially small carvings.

The two kinds are distinguished from one another readily, because of differences in their relative hardness. The gypsum kind is so soft as to be readily scratched with a fingernail (Mohs hardness 1.5 to 2), while the calcite kind is too hard to be scratched in this way (Mohs hardness 3), although it does yield readily to a knife. Moreover, the calcite alabaster, being a carbonate, effervesces upon being touched with hydrochloric acid, whereas the gypsum alabaster, when thus treated, remains practically unaffected.

Due to the characteristic color of white alabaster, the term has entered the vernacular as a metonym for white things, particularly "alabaster skin", which means very light and quite transparent, and possibly derives from the use of alabaster for tomb effigies.^{[citation needed]}

Etymology[link]

The origin of the word alabaster is in Middle English, through Old French alabastre, in turn derived from the Latin alabaster and that from Greek ἀλάβαστρος (alabastros) or ἀλάβαστος (alabastos). The latter was a term used to identify a vase made of alabaster.^[1]

This name may derive further from the Ancient Egyptian word a-labaste, which refers to vessels of the Egyptian goddess Bast. She was represented as a lioness and frequently depicted as such in figures placed atop these alabaster vessels.^[2][3] Other suggestions include derivation from the town of Alabastron in Egypt.^[4]

Types[link]

Calcite alabaster[link]

This substance, the "alabaster" of the Ancient Egyptians and Bible, often is termed Oriental alabaster, since the early examples came from the Far East. The Greek name alabastrites is said to be derived from the town of Alabastron, in Egypt, where the stone was quarried. The locality probably owed its name to the mineral; the origin of the mineral name is obscure.

The "Oriental" alabaster was highly esteemed for making small perfume bottles or ointment vases called alabastra, the vessel name has been suggested as a possible source of the mineral name. In Egypt craftsmen used alabaster for canopic jars and various other sacred and sepulchral objects. A sarcophagus, sculptured in a single block of translucent calcite alabaster from Alabastron, is in the Sir John Soane's Museum, London. This was discovered by Giovanni Belzoni in 1817 in the tomb of Seti I near Thebes. It was purchased by Sir John Soane.

When cut in thin sheets, alabaster is translucent enough to be used for small windows. It was used for this purpose in medieval churches, especially in Italy. Large alabaster sheets are used extensively in the contemporary Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, which was dedicated in 2002 by the Los Angeles, California Archdiocese. The cathedral incorporates special cooling to prevent the panes from overheating and turning opaque.

Calcite alabaster is found as either a stalagmitic deposit, from the floor and walls of limestone caverns, or as a kind of travertine, similarly deposited in springs of calcareous water. Its deposition in successive layers gives rise to the banded appearance that the marble often shows on cross-section, whence it is known as onyx-marble or alabaster-onyx, or sometimes simply as onyx. The latter term should be restricted to siliceous minerals, however.

Egyptian alabaster has been worked extensively near Suez and Assiut. Many ancient quarries are found in the hills overlooking the plain of Tell el Amarna.

Algerian onyx-marble has been quarried largely in the province of Oran. In Mexico, there are famous deposits of a delicate green variety at La Pedrara, in the district of Tecali, near Puebla. Onyx-marble occurs also in the district of Tehuacán and at several localities in California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Virginia.

Gypsum alabaster[link]

When the term "alabaster" is used without any qualification, it invariably means a fine-grained variety of gypsum. This mineral, or alabaster proper, occurs in England. The early use of alabaster for vessels dedicated for use in the cult of the deity Bast in the culture of the Ancient Egyptians is well documented, however, thousands of gypsum alabaster artifacts dating to the late 4th millennium BC also have been found in Tell Brak (present day Nagar), in Syria.^[5] In Mesopotamia, a gypsum alabaster sculpture, believed to represent the deity, Abu, dates to the first half of the 3rd millennium BC.^[6]

Gypsum alabaster is a common mineral, which occurs in England in the Keuper marls of the Midlands, especially at Chellaston in Derbyshire, at Fauld in Staffordshire, and near Newark in Nottinghamshire. Deposits at all of these localities have been worked extensively. In the fifteenth century its carving into small statues and sets of relief panels for altarpieces was a valuable local industry in Nottingham, as well as a major English export. These were usually painted, or partly painted. It was also used for the effigies, often life size, on tomb monuments, as the typical recumbent position suited the material's lack of strength, and it was cheaper and easier to work than good marble. Beside examples of these carvings still in Britain (especially at the Nottingham Castle Museum, British Museum, and Victoria and Albert Museum), trade in mineral alabaster (rather than just the antiques trade) has scattered examples in the material that may be found as far afield as the Musée de Cluny, Spain, and Scandinavia.

Alabaster also is found, although in smaller quantity, at Watchet in Somerset, near Penarth in Glamorganshire, and elsewhere. In Cumbria it occurs largely in the New Red rocks, but at a lower geological horizon. The alabaster of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire is found in thick nodular beds or "floors" in spheroidal masses known as "balls" or "bowls" and in smaller lenticular masses termed "cakes." At Chellaston, where the local alabaster is known as "Patrick," it has been worked into ornaments under the name of "Derbyshire spar"—a term more properly applied to fluorspar.

In Europe, the centre of the alabaster trade today is Florence, Italy. Tuscan alabaster occurs in nodular masses embedded in limestone, interstratified with marls of Miocene and Pliocene age. The mineral is worked largely by means of underground galleries, in the district of Volterra. Several varieties are recognized—veined, spotted, clouded, agatiform, and others. The finest kind, obtained principally from Castellina, is sent to Florence for figure-sculpture, while the common kinds are carved locally, into vases, lights, and various ornamental objects. These items are objects of extensive trade, especially in Florence, Pisa, and Livorno. Spain and many other countries have deposits which have been worked.

• 

  Statue made of alabaster, Yemen

• 

  Alabaster tomb monument to Sir Nicholas Fitzherbert

• 

  This brown alabaster sculpture is untreated, with natural translucency and satin lustre (base of marble)

Black alabaster[link]

Black alabaster is a rare form of the gypsum-based mineral. This black form is only found in three veins in the world, one each in Oklahoma, Italy, and China.

Alabaster Caverns State Park, near Freedom, Oklahoma is home to a natural gypsum cave in which much of the gypsum is in the form of alabaster. There are several types of alabaster found at the site, including pink, white, and the rare black alabaster.

Uses[link]

The finer kinds of alabaster are employed largely as an ornamental stone, especially for ecclesiastical decoration and for the rails of staircases and halls. Its softness enables it to be carved readily into elaborate forms, but its solubility in water renders it unsuitable for outdoor work. If alabaster with a smooth, polished surface is washed with washing-up liquid (dishwashing liquid), it will become rough, dull and whiter, losing most of its translucency and lustre.

The purest alabaster is a snow-white material of fine tiniforni grain, but it often is associated with an oxide of iron, which produces brown clouding and veining in the stone. The coarser varieties of alabaster are converted by calcination into plaster of Paris, whence they sometimes are known as "plaster stone."

In order to diminish the translucency of the alabaster and to produce an opacity suggestive of true marble, the statues are immersed in a bath of water and heated gradually—nearly to the boiling-point—an operation requiring great care, for if the temperature is not regulated carefully, the stone acquires a dead-white, chalky appearance. The effect of heating appears to be a partial dehydration of the gypsum. If properly treated, it very closely resembles true marble and is known as marmo di Castellina.

Sulphate of lime (gypsum) also was used by the ancients. It was employed, for instance, in Assyrian sculpture. So some of the ancient alabaster is identical to the modern stone.

Alabaster may be stained to disguise it, by being heated in various pigmentary solutions. In this way a very misleading imitation of coral that is called alabaster coral is produced.

See also[link]

• Calcite
• Calcium sulfate
• Gypsum
• Anhydrite
• Selenite (mineral)
• Phosphogypsum
• List of minerals

References[link]

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Alabaster". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Further reading[link]

• Harrell J.A. (1990), "Misuse of the term 'alabaster' in Egyptology," Göttinger Miszellen, 119, pp. 37–42.
• Mackintosh-Smith T. (1999), "Moonglow from Underground". Aramco World May–June 1999.[1]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alabaster

• Alabaster Craftmanship in Volterra
• Alabaster Craftsmen Association "ArteInBottega"
• Abdulwahhab al-Sayrafi revives Yemeni Alabaster Craft

Priscilla "CeCe" Marie Winans Love (born October 8, 1964) is an American gospel singer, who has won numerous awards, including Grammys and Stellar Awards.

Early life[link]

CeCe Winans was born in Detroit, Michigan, to David and Delores ("Mom" and "Pop") Winans, on October 8, 1964. She is the eighth of ten children, and the eldest of three girls.

Solo career[link]

CeCe began her solo career with the Platinum certified album Alone in His Presence. It was released in 1995 and earned her a Grammy Award and two Dove Awards, including the Female Vocalist of the Year, an award she earned again in 1997. Winans' next release, the Gold certified Everlasting Love was released in 1998 and featured Winans highest to date Billboard charting solo singles "Well Alright" & "Slippin". The song "On That Day" from the album was written and produced by R&B singer Lauryn Hill. Later that year, Winans released His Gift a holiday album.

In 1999, Winans started her own recording company, "PureSprings Gospel". Her first album on the label was Alabaster Box in 1999. Some production of the disc was done by Gospel singer and musician, Fred Hammond. It included a guest appearance by Take 6. In 2000 Cece released a concert VHS titled Live At The Lambs Theater in New York. The concert contained songs from her previous albums. Winans released her next album, the self titled CeCe Winans, in 2001. The single "Anybody Wanna Pray" included a guest appearance by GRITS. The second single, "Say A Prayer" crossed over into the CCM market.

Winans took a two year break from releasing albums and returned in 2003 with Throne Room. The first 1,000 copies were issued with a bonus CD that contained exclusive interviews with the artist, the making of the CD, some touring footage, and the music video "More Than What I Wanted" (which came from the 2001 release). In 2004, the 25 city tour Throne Room featured free admission and was followed with a DVD release of the concert recorded in Tennessee near CeCe's place of residence. Live In the Throne Room contained tracks from all of Winans' albums. Around September 2004, Winans experienced what she thought was a flu but turned out to be a serious stomach infection and was hospitalized immediately for surgery. Due to the extended recovery time, the second half of the Throne Room Tour was postponed to early 2005.^[1]

Winans' seventh album Purified was released in 2005. Producers on board for the project were longtime BeBe & CeCe collaborator Keith Thomas, and CeCe's nephew Mario Winans. Winans' son Alvin III also co-writes several songs on the album and younger sisters Angie and Debbie Winans make an appearance as well.

CeCe's collection of Top Ten R&B radio hits include "Count on Me", her duet with Whitney Houston, from the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack. The single was certified Gold in the US and reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 4 on the Adult Contemporary chart and No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Singles charts.

Winans released her eighth album, Thy Kingdom Come on April 1, 2008, featuring the single "Waging War". On October 6, 2009, a BeBe & CeCe reunion album named Still was released. It is the ninth album released by the brother / sister duo. The album was released under Malaco Records and features collaborations with Marvin Winans and contemporary gospel sisters duo Mary Mary.

On December 23, 2010, Cece along with Bebe Winans & Mary Mary, featuring the West Angeles Choir, performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.^[2]

Personal life[link]

CeCe now resides in Forest Hills, Tennessee ^[3] (a suburb of Nashville) with her husband Alvin Love and two children, Ashley and Alvin III. CeCe's children were featured in the BeBe & CeCe Winans music video "If Anything Ever Happened to You". Alvin III also appeared in the music video for "Well, Alright." They attend Born Again Church in Nashville, where CeCe is on the worship team and her children are involved in the drama ministry.^[3]

CeCe was a good friend of Whitney Houston and godmother to her daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown. She performed "Don't Cry for Me" and "Jesus Loves Me" at Houston's funeral, at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey on February 18, 2012. CeCe is also the godmother to Minister Deron Cozart, Sr., and a good friend of Dr. Bridget E. Hilliard, co-pastor of New Light Christian Center (Houston, Austin, Beaumont, Texas).^[4]

In pop culture[link]

In the Disney Channel's animated television series The Proud Family, the baby twins are named "BeBe & CeCe."

Books[link]

CeCe has authored three books: On A Positive Note, a collection of her memoirs released August 1, 2000; and Throne Room: Ushered Into the Presence of God, a devotional released January 1, 2004 and co-authored with Claire Cloninger. Always Sisters: Becoming the Princess You Were Created to Be, released on July 17, 2007 and co-written with Claudia Mair Burney.

In 2009, CeCe announced her support for a multicultural Christian education curriculum from Abingdon Press, entitled "On the Move: God's Grace from Place to Place."

Discography[link]

See also BeBe & CeCe Winans Discography

Solo albums[link]

Other Albums

Guest appearances & soundtracks[link]

• 1994: "Rest In Me" Coram Deo II: People Of Praise (Sparrow)
• 1996: "Count on Me" with Whitney Houston (Arista)
• 1996: "Take Me Back" Tribute: The Songs Of Andrae Crouch (Warner Alliance)
• 1997: "All Is Well Tonight" God With Us: A Celebration Of Christmas Carols... (Sparrow)
• 1998: "The River" The Prince Of Egypt: Inspirational (DreamWorks)
• 1998: "Humanity" The Prince of Egypt Soundtrack (DreamWorks)
• 2000: "Tonight Tonight" BeBe Winans (featuring CeCe) (Motown)
• 2006: "He Set My Life To Music" Barbara Mandrell She Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool (BNA)
• 2006: "Walking Away" The Gospel According to Patti LaBelle (Umbrella)
• 2008: "Right Now (We Need Another)" BeBe & CeCe Winans with Vince Gill and Wynonna Judd (Zomba Recording)

Videography[link]

Concert[link]

Music videos[link]

• "Count on Me" (Whitney Houston & CeCe Winans) (1996)
• "Well Alright" (1998)
• "More Than What I Wanted" (2001)
• "Purified" (2006)^[8]

Television appearances[link]

List includes acting appearances only, not interviews and/or performances

• CeCe's Place (aired on the Odyssey Channel)
• 7th Heaven ^[9]
• Touched by an Angel ^[10]
• Living Single
• Doc ^[9]
• Martin

Other

Awards[link]

CeCe has received 10 Grammy Awards, 21 Grammy Award nominations, 20 Dove Awards and seven Stellar Awards (as well as numerous nominations).

See also[link]

• Category:CeCe Winans albums
• Category:BeBe & CeCe Winans albums
• The Winans Family

References[link]

Other References

• Winans, CeCe: On A Positive Note (August 1, 2000)

External links[link]

• www.cecewinans.com - Official CeCe Winans Internet site
• Cece Winans - Interview (August 2008) on BlackGospel.com
• CeCe Winans at Allmusic
• CeCe Winans discusses On the Move curriculum
• Accomplished gospel singer Cece Winans showered with 11 nominations for 2011 Stellar Awards including special honor at trumpet awards prayer breakfast - Fusemix.com

Julie Meyer is an American-born entrepreneur, investor, business adviser, networking expert, broadcaster, and business commentator. She is the founder and Chief Executive of Ariadne Capital and the Managing Partner of Ariadne Capital Entrepreneurs Fund (ACE).

She is the founder of Entrepreneur Country and was the co-founder of First Tuesday sold in July 2000 to Yazam, a subsidiary of Jerusalem Global, for $50 million.^[1]

Meyer is also one of the two dragons on the BBC’s Dragons' Den online and is a regular columnist for the business paper City A.M.^[2] and regularly contributes to The Daily Telegraph’s^[3] business pages.

She has won awards including the World Economic Forum Global Leader of Tomorrow, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year (October 2000) and a place in the Wall Street Journal’s 30 most influential women in Europe. She was also cited as one of INSEAD’s ‘50 alumni who have changed the world’ (2010).

Early life and education[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (November 2010)

Meyer was born in Dearborn, Michigan, but moved to Sacramento, California, when she was one month old. Her father, also an entrepreneur, is a pulmonary doctor who founded Pulmonary Medicine Associates^[4] in Carmichael, CA in the early 1970s; her mother was an assistant to a lawyer.

She received a B.A. in English Literature and Humanities from Valparaiso University^[5] and her M.B.A. from INSEAD in France.^[6]

Meyer is a Lutheran.

Early career[link]

Meyer spent her early 20s in Paris from 1988 to 1993 where she taught English.^[7] She later worked as a consultant for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 3Com and Hewlett Packard.^[8]

From 1993 to 1996, she worked for Andy Cunningham at Cunningham Communications in Boston where she consulted for Motorola on the PowerPC Alliance.^{[citation needed]}

In 1997, she took her M.B.A. at INSEAD^[9] and in 1998 she went to London and co-founded the networking forum First Tuesday.

Business ventures[link]

First Tuesday[link]

In 1998, Meyer started working in London for NewMedia Investors (now Spark Ventures) where she helped advise companies including Lastminute.com, WGSN and Arc Cores to build their teams, raise capital and establish themselves internationally.^[10][11]

In October 1998, together with journalists Nick Denton and John Browning and investment banker Adam Gold, Meyer started organising networking events for new media entrepreneurs and business people on the first Tuesday of every month. It then became known as First Tuesday. Under Meyer's direction, First Tuesday expanded into 17 cities across Europe. The Wall Street Journal (Europe edition) covered the international launch to 17 cities on the 7th of September 1999.^{[citation needed]}

Ariadne Capital[link]

After Meyer left First Tuesday, she set up Ariadne Capital in August 2000, an investment and advisory firm based on an ‘Entrepreneurs backing Entrepreneurs’ model, providing investment and advisory services to entrepreneurs in the media (broadcasting, publishing, music, gaming, advertising) and the internet (including mobile internet) sectors. Clients that Ariadne backed in the early years include Espotting (now MIVA), Kashya (later sold to EMC) and Skype (later sold to Ebay^[12]). Most recently Ariadne Capital acted as sole financial advisor to BeatThatQuote.com on its sale to Google.^[13]

Entrepreneur Country[link]

Entrepreneur Country^[14] (founded by Meyer in 2008) is a network of investors, entrepreneurs, corporate organisations and media partners. The group network congregates bi-annually and also gathers online for information exchange, inspiration and to make connections.

Ariadne Capital Entrepreneurs Fund (ACE)[link]

In September 2009, Meyer announced the first Ariadne Capital Entrepreneurs Fund (ACE).^[15] She is the managing partner of the fund which will invest in internet and mobile internet companies at the seed stage.

Media career and other work[link]

Dragons' Den (online)[link]

In March 2009 Julie Meyer became a dragon on the online version of BBC’s Dragons' Den where entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of potential investors known as ‘dragons’. Joining Meyer on the panel is Shaf Rasul, founder of Edinburgh optical storage distributor E-Net Computers and an investor in property and internet companies.

The production shows online video pitches from entrepreneurs and the subsequent interaction between entrepreneurs and panel judges/investors, £50,000 being the maximum amount of money that the judges can individually invest in any one business. The videos are published weekly and audiences can participate by, for example, rating business plans.^[16]

The show is hosted by BBC Radio 1 breakfast newsreader Dominic Byrne.

Other media work[link]

Meyer appeared as a business commentator on the BBC (on shows including Newsnight, BBC Breakfast and BBC news online^[17][18]) and CNBC. Also, in addition to her column for City A.M., she has contributed to publications such as Bloomberg Businessweek, Computing, FT Digital Business^[19] and Spectator Business.

Julie Meyer has pioneered the understanding and analysis of the industrial framework - 'Ecosystem Economics'TM - previously published in the Sunday Telegraph and the Guardian.^[20][21] This model, which she was the first to apply to the post web 2.0 world, refers to the network-orientation of all business in the next phase of industrial development. The winners, according to Meyer and Ariadne Capital, will be those companies who organise the business model in their ecosystem for all parties in the transaction. Ariadne seeks to accelerate the momentum of fast-growing technology-based businesses. Meyer and Ariadne use "Ecosystem Economics"TM to refer to how to launch and grow new businesses where the alignment of multiple entities in the marketplace are required to ensure success."Ecosystem Economics" is a trademark of Ariadne Capital.

Julie provided comment for the Financial Times on the Davies Report (an inquiry into female representation in the boardroom)^[22] and also on 'Why entrepreneurship is so important'.^[23] She was used by Financial Times as a commentator on the UK Budget 2011, looking at its effect on small and medium businesses.^[24]

Awards and honours[link]

• INSEAD - 50 Alumni who changed the world^[25]
• E&Y – Entrepreneur of the Year (October 2000)^{[citation needed]}
• Wall Street Journal - 30 Most Influential Women in Europe^{[citation needed]}
• World Economic Forum – Global Leader of Tomorrow^{[citation needed]}
• Keynote Speaker at the Women Mean Business Conference and Awards on September 27, 2010^[26]
• Was a judge for The Economist Conferences' Innovation Awards 2010^[27]
• Julie Meyer was selected to be a member of Vince Cable’s Entrepreneurs’ Forum as part of Global Entrepreneurs’ Week 2010^[28]
• Cited as one of the '1000 Most Influential People in London' by the London Evening Standard 2010^[29] and again in 2011^[30]
• Keynote speaker at The Economist Conferences' Big Rethink 2011^[31]
• Announced as Board member at Vestergaard Frandsen in 2011^[32]
• Announced as non-Executive Director of Jellybook, a company for retail investors in social media, in May 2011^[33]
• Announced as judge for National Business Awards 2011 in May of same year^[34]
• Named one of ComputerWeekly's top "50 Most Influential People in UK IT" in October 2011^[35]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ariadne Capital Official website http://www.ariadnecapital.com/
• Cunningham Communications http://www.connectingpointcomm.com/CCI/
• BBC website - Dragons Den: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/
• City AM website: http://www.cityam.com/ http://www.cityam.com/news-and-analysis/julie-meyer
• Ariadne Capital Founding Investors - http://www.ariadnecapital.com/documents/Ariadne_Founding_Investors.pdf
• BBC News - The dragon’s golden rule - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8052336.stm
• Intellectual Property Office - http://www.ipo.gov.uk/search.htm?words=julie+meyer