This whimsical paperweight sculpture is adorable. One side is a sad face and the other a happy face. The piece can simply be a fun item or have theatre significance as comedy/tragedy. Nice gift for all ages and occasions. Product Features: Measures approximately: 3 inches. Due to the handmade nature, actual size of each piece will vary slightly. Soapstone is a soft stone, making it easy to carve into many forms. Handle with care to avoid breakage. Fair Trade. Because a variety of communities carve the statue, expect designs variations and color variation in the natural stone. Story Behind the Art: Kisii soapstone is one of the most well-known artforms from East Africa. A hand-carved piece of art from the Kisii region of Kenya is a real treasure. Soapstone is mined from the Tabaka Hills and then carved by talented artisans into many designs that are beautiful and some functional. Laborers work with shovels, picks, axes and machetes to carve out large soapstone chucks. The large pieces of stone are cut using pangas (large knives) and then brought to the workshop for carving and finishing. The soapstone from the Tabaka Hills come in a range of colors from white to pink to grey. As it is crafted, it goes through multiple stages of sanding and waxing which gives the soapstone a satiny finish. Each etching is intricately carved by hand. 

Meet the Artisans
Our Soapstone is carved by a group of artists who live in the rural village of Tabaka, Kenya, the heart of soapstone crafts. They are members of the WFTO which assures that the artisans are paid a fair price for their work. In addition, the organization support community development by contributing to projects that improve living conditions, education, and health of their members and the village at large.  Their work is reducing poverty through economic transformation in a country where the majority are income-poor or near the poverty line.  

Story behind the Art
African Soapstone is among the most beautiful in the world. Mined by hand from surface mines large stones are pulled by a team of workers, cleaved into smaller pieces, and then worked into stunning art and functional objects.
Soapstone is mined from great pits in the area surrounding Kiisi, Kenya. The mined soapstone is then delivered to carvers who carve sculptures from the natural stone for the wholesale market, the color of which ranges from cream, to pink, to brown, to yellow, to black, to a marbling of all of them. Once carved, the craftspeople smooth rough edges of the soapstone with sandpaper dipped in water and polish the piece to a high gloss or paint African motifs in brilliant colors with etched accents.
These soapstone treasures are completely crafted by hand using household tools ranging from screwdrivers to hand drills to switchblades. Pangas (sword-like tools used for cutting down vegetation) are used to cleave the stone in the mines.
Given the handmade nature of this product please allow for minor variations in color, size and design.  Each piece is a one-of-a-kind piece of art. The soapstone carvers are a co-operative group that empower artisans in the Kisii villages. Women often work from their homes in order to care for children. The labor intense jobs are done by men, but women are involved with many parts of the creation such as sanding, polishing, painting, and packaging. Empowering women in the community has a direct impact - providing supplemental money for school fees and money to feed the family.