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Every now on then on my stone hunt I come across something unexpected and unique, and a few years ago it was a small collection of truly exquisite leopard carvings! These incredibly lifelike carvings are hand sculpted from soapstone and capture the leopard in a very lifelike pose. The entire carving is very realistic and nicely rendered, but what really blew me away was seeing that each spot was hand carved into the stone as well! Look closely and you'll see a furry texture emerge from the hand carved spots that is really just incredible. I still can't get over how much labor there must be invested into this carving and this is one of the single largest examples the art dealer brought in that year. I have my own talents with stone, but carving isn't one of them and it makes me admire the skill that goes into something like this all the more. This is a large, hefty carving with top quality craftsmanship that I'm confident you'll be as impressed with as I have been! One of the best imports I saw show up in Tucson last year were these really fine animal carvings made from soapstone to produce an incredible work of art! While I take a great deal of pride in being able to offer the finest polished gem specimens on eBay, I cannot carve my initials in a board, let alone come up with something this impressive! I really couldn't believe how detailed these carvings were and the patience to carve each spot in the stained surface of the stone just left me awestruck. I wish I could have met the person that did this work, but she or he is in Africa and the best I can do is help share their creation here with my fellow rock lovers. The stone used is soapstone, a relatively soft stone that can still be polished to produce the slick surfaces you see on this carving. I love every detail including that magnificent tail! These carvings are good quality, hand made sculptures and the raw material is really top notch. It is nicely polished and finished to show off all the talent of the carver as well as the beauty of the stone! This carving is a pretty good sized leopard with a beautiful and detailed coat, not a tiny finger sized rock. It incorporates a natural stone base as part of the carving that supports the sculpture with good stability. This nice carving measures about 9" tall and weighs 5.10 lbs. The base is about 6 1/4" in the longer direction. I'm confident you'll be as impressed as I was when you see it in person! A nice, unique naturally wonderful stone collectible exclusively from Sticks-in-Stones Lapidary.
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