Bidspirit auction | A pair of hand-carved soapstone

A pair of hand-carved soapstone decorative ornaments, likely functioning as spill vases or scholar's desk objects. Each piece is crafted from a single block of steatite featuring a mottled colour palette of cream, grey, and rust-red tones. The reverse of each piece is largely flat and uncarved, with circular openings leading to the hollowed-out central sections. These items are characteristic of Chinese export stone carvings from the late 19th to early 20th century, spanning the late Qing to Republic period.