What about these carvings?

What do you guys think about these carvings. Type of stone and origins?






And Second..

 

the 1st looks south.central America..
the 2nd...an inuit bird...

 

Thanks, do you think the first one is more of a modern carving. Do you have any ideas about the stone? It is 9 inches tall.

 

I'm no expert, but both look recent to me. I'd have figured the bird for Chinese until Komo spoke up.

 

I agree with komokwa. The second looks like Inuit ("Eskimo"), usually carved from steatite (soapstone). The first one looks like it is trying to be Mesoamerican (Mexican or Guatemalan), in which case the stone may be steatite, serpentine or, less likely, nephrite (jade). All occur in shades of green that were sought after. Steatite is softest, serpentine next, and nephrite hardest, but without a hardness or density test it might be hard to distinguish between them. Do you have a college or university nearby with a geologist? I suspect the Mesoamerican piece was made for the tourist trade, in which case they would have chosen a softer stone, quick and easy to carve.

Just for completeness sake, I should add that jadeite was also used in Mesoamerica. Jadeite and nephrite are slightly different in their mineralogy, but both are commonly referred to as jade.

 

I’m a statuary ignoramus, truly, but IMO neither piece reflects either artistic skill or good craftsmanship. So, paperweights.

 

Am I right in thinking that photos 1 and 2 are two different figures?
The first with an Olmec inspired face and a big bowl, the second with a headdress and a smaller bowl?
Anyway, as the others said, Mexico, possibly Guatemalan for no 1 (and 2?). Given the Olmec style face, I'd say Mexican, and likely serpentine. Jade, whether nephrite or jadeite, is out of the question imho.
And I agree, the very cute bird is Inuit.

 

The trouble with so much pre-columbian material is that 9 times out of 10 (or more) the object is a fake, made for the tourist trade. They have been making tourist items in Mexico and Peru since the 19th century (and perhaps earlier). You can find this confusing material in museum collections as well, which has compromised our understanding of what the real art should look like. When looking for comparative objects, we need to look for examples from documented archeological excavations. Here is an object that was found in the oldest known Maya royal tomb in San Bartolo, Guatemala, dating to about 150 BC:

http://www.mesoweb.com/reports/SanBartoloWest.html

To most of us, it looks quite crude. If it is a very hard stone, it represents a great deal of work to shape even to this extent, without steel tools. It was clearly of value to those who included it in a royal burial. It all depends on context, which is why it is so unfortunate that so much pre-columbian material has been looted and sold without its history. IMHO.

(Sorry - I pulled my museum teacher's hat out of the closet for a few minutes there.)

 

The second is indeed Inuit but carved from serpentinite stone not steatite. Most likely from Lake Harbour on Baffin Island and dating to the mid 1970's.

 

Following up on Mark's good information - I found a site that discusses the Cape Dorset carvings of dancing bears, which explains that for Inuit carvers "serpentine stone is found only in the Baffin Island region where Cape Dorset resides. It is a very hard rock which is very condensed and hard. Because of these properties, Serpentine not only allows for the carving to take on a spectacular glossy and smooth finish, but it is strong and heavy enough to allow subjects like the popular dancing bear to balance firmly on one foot. Other Inuit regions tend to have lighter and softer stone which does not allow them to be able to do this."
https://www.inuitsculptures.com/pages/cape-dorset-kingait

Also found this on ebay:


"Inuit Eskimo Serpentine Art carving, Cape Dorset, BIRD, Atchealak, COA 5x4x3"
https://www.ebay.ie/itm/inuit-eskim...ak-coa-5x4x3/322215812378?hash=item4b058f1d1a

Always happy to learn more!

 

The serpentine stone quarried at Lake Harbour in the 70's has a ferrous oxide component giving it the rust colored oxidation on the exposed areas. Notice the contrast with the base of the sculpture.

 

Great information.

 

He is , after all...our resident Inuit expert !!!

 

Thanks for enlightening this newbie.