Re: italian black carving stone


Alaca wrote:
<snip>
> He mentions four blacks, and only the first seems
> mineral (but is it?)
> I think it is the same as in Section 1, chapter XXIII:
> "Also for drawing. I have come across a certain black
> stone, which comes from Piedmont; this is a soft stone;
> and it can be sharpened with a penkinife, for it is soft. It
> is very black. And you can bring it to the same perfection
> as charcoal."
> Possibly it can also be grinded for an ink.
<snip>

Sounds like steatite, aka esteatita, aka soapstone.
But Italian soapstone is usually greenish,
not black:

http://www.mts.net/~gvh/soapstone.htm

FWIW:

http://nautarch.tamu.edu/class/489-502/Grimaldi%20figurines.gif

One might try also to search on chlorite,
which can also be soft and black, and from Italy.

Or argillite, which can be black and soft and carveable.

-
Daryl Krupa

.

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