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I thought this was slate (I've seen green and black slate) but realized it is a hard tight grained stone, not layered like slate is. I really like the way the picture was made from the natural color vein that was already in the stone. The back is pretty flat with a raised edge all the way around as shown in the last picture. A small part of the raised edge is broken away which is how I realized it isn't slate. I said pretty flat because the four corners do not sit perfectly flat on a glass surface. It came from a new england estate so I there is no family history with it.

Any info would be much appreciated. Age, type of stone, subject matter, what it was used for, where it was made, similar examples, etc.

I have more pictures (and can take specific ones if requested) but am limited to three so I'll post the rest tomorrow if they will help.

Thanks!

Looks like a crude representation of Liu Hia and his three legged toad....I would say modern

Thanks, that's a good start. The carving is kind of crude, but I think it makes the piece rather charming. I love the idea of a religion with a story about a guy that hangs out with a three-legged toad. Now that's a religion I could get excited by.

Any thoughts on the type of stone? Why do you say modern - and when does that mean in years?

Have you seen any carved flat stone panels like this? Where would this have been used? Why did they bother to carve out the back to leave the frame around it?

Any pics or tests in particular that would be interesting?

Here are the other pics I took of the back. The last two where a bit is chipped off is what convinced me it can't be slate.

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