Soapstone is an impure variety of Talc.

Impurities are what give the stone its beautiful green and black colours. Polishing the stone bring out these colours. Scratching the stone will produce a white mark of the talc. Should this occur, boiled linseed oil applied to the scratch and polished with a soft cloth will restore it to its original colour. Any excess oil should be removed. Clean with a soft flannel cloth sprayed with Pledge.

Soapstone, is “Steatite”, a metamorphic rock having a soapy feel. Composed of talc, chlorite, magnetite and other impurities that will determine the colour and hardness. It is found throughout the world in a wide range of colours; pink, green, yellow, brown, blue or black to name a few.

For John, the major advantage of working in soapstone is its availability (there are deposits from Newfoundland to Alabama, along the line of the Appalachians).

Because of its malleability, it has been used for carving for centuries. Egyptians carved figures and bowls of soapstone to be put into the tombs of pharaohs. Soapstone seals of Indian origin have been found in Bahrain and Ur. Paleoeskimos were mining the stone to make bowls and lamps on the Baie Verte Peninsula 1600 years ago.

Early commercial use of soapstone in Canada in the 1800's was the building of stoves. Its thermal properties allow the soapstone stove to remain warm hours after the fire was out. It has also been used extensively in laboratories, because of its resistance to heat, acids and other chemicals. Crayons made of soapstone are used in marking steel because these marks will not burned off during welding.

The stone used by John is quarried by Les Pierres Stéatites, East Broughton, Quebec, in the Eastern Townships. The stone is extracted by hand, using drills and wedges, thus avoiding the internal fracturing of the stone that occur when blasting. It is then sawn into various sizes of blocks as requested by the purchaser.