Handcarved animals from stone. Some of the stones used here for these hand carved animals are green verdite, brown verdite, and African Jade. We recently met Lameck, at the New York International Gifts Fair Jan/Feb 2007. He is an awesome craftsmen, just in the beginning stages of getting his crafts into the US from Africa. He has been selling for quite a while in Africa, but is just starting to try to expand to the US. His carvings are works of art that will be cherished for years. Hand carved stone animals, made by Lameck Mlingo You are purchasing one of a kind pieces, each piece unique. You are buying the exact piece pictured. Also, if you are interested in a certain piece and would like more pictures before you purchase, just let me know and we will email you a few other pictures first if you'd like. It really is hard to get the details.. but we can send a few extra pictures to try to help. VERDITE: Known as "Africa's green gold", is highly sought after by artists. Only the more experienced sculptor will dare sculpt from this hard stone. Verdite rates between a 7.0-9.0 on the Mohs hardness scale. Verdite has color unique in that it boasts an Emerald looking quality with beautiful brown and green striations.Unfortunately, verdite is fast becoming rare and is difficult to find. Carvings from this stone will become increasingly more valuable. SERPENTINE: Black iron serpentine is one of the hardest and darkest stones found in Zimbabwe. Black iron serpentine gets its name because of the deposits of iron found in it. The stone is capable of the most amazing finish that shines a black lustre resembling the black opal. Rated at 4.0-5.0 on Mohs hardness scale, serpentine's remarkable hardness guarantees its durability and because of its fine finish, is highly sought after. • Medium sized rhino (brown verdite) • Medium sized black lion (serpentine) • Medium sized elephant (green verdite)