Kisii Stone Hippo Footed Ring Paper Clips Dish

* Footed soapstone bowl with hippo face carving. * Black dotted pattern on soapstone. * Measures 4" diameter, 7" length, and 2" height . * Smooth sanded finish. * Carved from soapstone mined in South West Kenya. * Handmade by Kisii tribe artisans in Kenya. --------------------------------- Soapstone is a natural rock and each stone has varying patterns. Soapstone is relatively soft because of its high talc content. It has a smooth finish and feels like soap, hence the name. The soapstone for our products is mined from the Tabaka Hills in Kisii County of South Western Kenya. The carvers are people from the Kisii tribe and they call the soapstone locally as Kisii stone. The men in the community primarily do the mining of soapstone. Using simple tools like shovels and hammers, they extract the stone for carving. Once the stones are carved to desired shapes, it is passed to the women members to sand each figure and produce smooth even finishes.