Featured Small hard stone carving, chinese?

Ebay purchase from U.S. seller who sells mostly vintage/antique costume jewelry and didn't know anything about it.

I think the stone is some type of quartz (based on the look/feel and the density which I tested at 2.62) - maybe some variety chalcedony/agate. I think it's meant as a pendant as there is a small hole that a thread or necklace could pass through under the "tongue" part.

I think it's depicting a toad or salamander sitting on a rock, or on a fruit perhaps? It's roughly heart shaped and strikes me that it could be depicting a heart. The little creature has flames or perhaps just a flowery tongue coming out of it's mouth.

Strikes me as Chinese, but looking for confirmation. Also any opinions on age are welcome. I haven't found many directly comparable items to this in my googling that I've done over the last few days.

Pendant sized - 1.75 x 1 x .55 inches -- (4.4 x 2.7 x 1.4 cm).

Thanks for looking!

Last few pics are under a very bright flashlight to show the internal structure.

 

following

 

I THINK I see an animal (?) in there but WHAT in the Good Lord's name could it BE????????????????????! ......Octopus????

 

It's hard to get a picture that shows all the carving details at once and how the overall piece looks in hand. I'm pretty sure it's a salamander, or frog/toad(tadpol-ish).

The first pic shows what's coming out of it's mouth, or what appears to be coming out of it's mouth, (tongue/flames, vines?) - the fourth pic is the body of the lil'critter. (he has a small tail on the bottom left of the fourth pic).

 

I think this is a job for @Any Jewelry.

I am absolutely clueless but would have been intrigued enough to snatch it up myself.

 

I’m farrr from knowledgeable here but I like watching auctions of Chinese art. While some carvers look for stone that’s consistent in color others seem to cherish stones like yours. I love it when a solid stone that features different colors is carved. I would agree that it’s likely Chinese for what it’s worth. Here’s a really cool Chinese example.

 

I agree! The varied colors in the single piece of stone are what first caught my eye on this little guy.

The piece you posted is beautiful, do you know if it is carved from fluorite?

 

I fall in love with almost every one I see like these but the old ones are always too expensive for me to buy and keep for myself. The last photo was called amethyst. Not sure if that is correct or not. Looks like it could be but I don’t know stones well. Here’s a few other cool examples in jade.

 

If someone calls a stone amethyst and the stone is not purple,it is something other than amethyst.

 

Cute. It’s got little feet like it’s going to walk off but can’t quite decide in which direction!

 

It is indeed Chinese. And it is a beauty, looks antique to me. The stone, maybe some kind of agate?

Yes, that is fluorite.

 

Thank you AJ !

I'm also thinking some variety of agate. Whatever its made of, it's my new favorite good luck charm and travels in my pocket much of the day.

 

Yay! That is what it was made for.

 

I suspect that initial pebble is fairly new, the cutting done by power tools.

 

That portion of the comment was in reference to the first photo I posted in this thread. That was of a partially purple stone. That said I still don’t know if it’s amethyst or not.

 

It is fluorite.

 

It looks like a lotus seed.

This is a contemporary lotus seed design in Singapore jewelry store