Wonderful and Unusual Carved Soapstone Folk Art "1603" Church antique mourning picture In an ebonized wooden frame

In an ebonized wooden frame

it appears that one of the motives behind many of Kaendler’s commissions for pugs was an emblematic one for the Order of the Pug

as in Chicago's Field Museum or the Museum of Natural History

18 3/8" l x 1 3/4" wide and deep

with a great deal of character and attitude conveyed with immediacy

Wonderful and Unusual Carved Soapstone Folk Art "1603" Church antique mourning picture In an ebonized wooden frameI've seen a few miniature books carved of soapstone, and of course lots of Inuit sculpture, but I've never seen a house or a church or other sort of architectural structure as far as I know. This particular church feels close kin to the naive drawings of churches and houses and towns from long ago that I love so much, and with a compelling play of flatness and depth to it too, as if veering back and forth between drawing or sculpture. With a lot of