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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;2manybooks, post: 390861, member: 8267&quot;]Color can be variable, depending on the trace elements present. I found a sculpture supplier that carries what they call Gala Red Soapstone:</p><p><img src="https://www.sculpturehouse.com/images/product/medium/gala_red_soapstone.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><a href="https://www.sculpturehouse.com/p-334-gala-red-soapstone-10-lbs.aspx" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.sculpturehouse.com/p-334-gala-red-soapstone-10-lbs.aspx" rel="nofollow">https://www.sculpturehouse.com/p-334-gala-red-soapstone-10-lbs.aspx</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Another site that I find helpful is CAMEO (Conservation and Art Materials Encyclopedia Online) which describes steatite as:</p><p>&quot;A very soft rock composed primarily of the mineral <a href="http://cameo.mfa.org/wiki/Talc" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://cameo.mfa.org/wiki/Talc" rel="nofollow">talc</a>. Steatite, commonly called soapstone, is composed of hydrated magnesium silicate. It is easily cut and has been used for carvings since ancient times. Steatite is usually a white, grayish green, brown or in rare cases, red or black. The stones were used for bowls, boxes, and small objects such as figurines, beads, seals, amulets, and scarabs. Native steatite is so soft it can be scratched with a fingernail, but baking results in dehydration and hardening of the stone. Some ancient steatite carvings were glazed then fired which produced a mineral (enstatite) hard enough to scratch glass. Currently, soapstone is used for laboratory countertops and fireplace facings.&quot;</p><p><a href="http://cameo.mfa.org/wiki/Steatite" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://cameo.mfa.org/wiki/Steatite" rel="nofollow">http://cameo.mfa.org/wiki/Steatite</a></p><p><br /></p><p>The harder serpentine tends more toward green, gray, brown or black.</p><p><br /></p><p>Most Asian soapstone carvings that I have seen are Chinese, but the iconography of yours sure looks like the Japanese figures. Perhaps someone else will have some insight.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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