I would guess that this goose has just swallowed a fish, thus the bulging gullet, and also perhaps the contented look on his face! I really love that disruption to what would otherwise be the very elegant line of the long neck, and how the form of the bulge pretty much exactly echoes the form of the body. I also really like that the piece is done in what reads in person as black soapstone, though I do think it is really a very very dark green, polished to a shine. (A perfect gift for a perpetually hungry friend!)
The piece is signed Herb on the bottom, I am pretty certain for Herb Faucher, by whom I've found a few other pieces and mentions out there from the 70s and early 80s, but really no biography. It appears that the date carved into the bottom is 1974, or possibly 1979. Some light surface scratching to the stone but overall very good condition. 8" from tail to beak, 4 1/4" tall x 2 1/8" wide.
