What stone or rock is this cut from

[mellowred 10]

Hope I'm in the right forum and that someone can help.

 

I have this stone carving and have no idea what material it is cut from. It is very heavy. Size is 16cm x 12cm x 12cm - weight 4kg.

 

 

Excuse my ignorance here, I'm not sure how hard/soft it is. Scrapping a coin across the bottom (with a lot of pressure) produces a very shallow scrape and fine dark dust. The unpolished stone (where the scrape is) is medium grey - whereas the polished area is very dark grey (almost black).

 

Any help will be appreciated.

 

Thanks

Mandy

[MsPlod 11]

Not 100% sure but...

 

It looks like soapstone...

 

Wonderful to work with and relatively easy to carve.

[Cali Craft and Gems 14]

I agree with Ms Plod on this one!

 

These carvings are predominantly produced / carved in Zimbabwe as the rock is easily available there.

[mellowred 10]

That makes perfect sense as we have a whole collection of cups and saucers, ashtrays and pipes.

 

I would not have associated such a dark stone with soapstone - I'm used to the dark green and light grey stone.

 

Thanks both of you.

[watermelon101 10]

Hi

Pesonnally i think its Pyrophylite"wonderstone" commonly used for lapidery work seen as the hardness is 2

:grin:

[MsPlod 11]

Personally i think its Pyrophylite"wonderstone" commonly used for lapidery work seen as the hardness is 2

:grin:

Had to look this up Watermelon101 :grin: ! Hadn't heard of pyrophylite before... From Wikipedia...

"Pyrophyllite, a mineral very similar to talc is sometimes called soapstone in the generic sense since its physical characteristics and industrial uses are similar, and because it is also commonly used as a carving material. However this mineral typically does not have such a soapy feel as that from which soapstone derives its name."

 

So - how soapy does it feel mellowred? LOL!!