Featured fine lil soapstone carving

hi folks

found this sweet lil soapstone carving in a charity shop yesterday.

i'm guessing with the empty face most likely to be an african shona carving but unsure

very smooth and tactile feeling

measures only 2 inches in height

any thought or info appreciated

 

Very sweet. I have never seen religious-themed Shona carvings, although they probably make those as well.

 

thanks Aj, didn't realize it was religion themed, what is it like the hand of god or something

 

Yes, the hand of God and a figure in a long robe.

 

nothing Shona I've ever seen...... & I'd have grabbed it in a heartbeat !!!
Nice find Charles !!!!

 

the carving is really well done for such a small piece of stone..

 

the base is unusual.... as if someone wanted to delete a signature..????

 

thanks buddy, that was what i thought as well, soft stone as well !

 

Id have snatched it up too ! Its saying "God has your back" !

 

or..... I've got your tush !!!!!!

 

It might be kisii stone, a type of soapstone found in Kenya. There are many "fair trade" projects supporting carvers in the region, producing various shapes and figures to order. Some have religious themes, such as this one available from blackartdepot.com -


https://www.blackartdepot.com/colle...protect-our-union-african-soapstone-sculpture

 

Ive always wanted that chair !

 

I’ve got something like this on the bottom of a big marble carving. I always wondered about it. Maybe the carver was getting a feel for how the stone reacted to his tools in this spot? Removing an impurity in the stone? You could delete a signature with a lot less work than this I imagine.

 

I think it was just to limit the amount of surface area that had to be fiddled with to make it stand level - less precision work required.

 

Makes sense. Being level crossed my mind but I wasn’t sure why going that deep would be necessary. It’s probably more shallow than I originally thought I saw.

 

Very cool and a little unique (and with a religious theme,I would have never guessed)
Nice find!