A beautiful gift from Kuwait

My son was serving in Kuwait as a National Guardsmen 2013. He was not home for my birthday, so he sent me this beautiful Vase and Tea set. It is made on Alabaster Marble.

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.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabaster

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

 These pieces are mainly ornaments and quite lovely to look at.
   What a lovely birthday gift from so far away.