Interesting Carving? Need help identifying

6 by AusO1 posted May 19, 2020 at 11:29 AM

5 by AusO1 posted May 19, 2020 at 11:29 AM

4 by AusO1 posted May 19, 2020 at 11:29 AM

3 by AusO1 posted May 19, 2020 at 11:29 AM

2 by AusO1 posted May 19, 2020 at 11:29 AM

1 by AusO1 posted May 19, 2020 at 11:25 AM

I found this small beaver ornament the other day, I have absolutely no idea what it is. I’m not sure what the material is, it is quite heavy and sounds a bit glass when you tap it. It very well could be not

 

This is a cast product, made by "Wolf Enterprises" or "Wolf Originals" and you'll see on it the initials WE with a copyright symbol, looking like an "O."
Their items are made of a plaster mix, sometimes called hydrostone, and are then given a top-coat of resin for gloss, and a dusting of talcum powder to bring out the details.
They are widely misidentified, especially on ebay, and in Canada it is apparently legal to sell them as "soapstone carvings," although the only soapstone in them is in the talcum dust, and there is no carving.
Their labels will sometimes say "hand-made," though there is not really any hand-work, other than possibly pouring the plaster into the molds, or applying the talcum dust.
The company goes back to the mid 1960s, but they are still in business today. Googling for information is very hard, both because of the common misidentification on ebay, and that if you google terms like "wolf sculptures" you get mostly sculptures of wolves.
I've got some links to more info, if I can find them.

 

Exactly. INH's ebay example is one of the many stating "hand-carved soapstone, hand-made in Canada."
It just is not soapstone, or hand-carved. Hand-made does not mean hand-carved; and hand-made items generally do not have copyright symbols.....let me find those links....

 

https://www.ecommercebytes.com/guides/collectibles/wolf-originals-soapstone-carvings/
But that is a copy of an ebay guide I wrote myself...

 

I appreciate all the info. I didn’t have any idea what it was, but it caught my eye nonetheless. Thanks again

 

Here we go:
https://www.trussel.com/f_art.htm#we

https://www.trussel.com/f_art.htm#Wolf

These links give some idea as to how often these items are misidentified. The author's website is useful for identifying soapstone sculptures, and mentions quite a number of soaspstone artists with links to their galleries, and such:
https://www.trussel.com/f_art.htm

 

Sure; these are well-done for what they are, and are often quite cute. They make good gifts, especially if one were a collector of beavers, or whatever.