My neck gets sore bent like that... Others may suffer the same problem, so I rotated the original pic 90° to the left.

That is a great little piece. Very different!

Cool looking! Is it a vase of some sort?

I have NO idea! Do you know what though? I think I am still trying to get my head around the shape of it, haha! Very confusing piece!

I think Linda is right. This one on Etsy looks similar. Not that Etsy is the end all, be all, but I think the material and shapes looks similar! https://www.etsy.com/listing/542250376/early-20th-century-chinese-soapstone?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=vintage&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=soapstone%20carving&ref=sr_gallery_30

Yes, it is a piece of soapstone and I would guess Linda is right in calling it a wall pocket.

Soapstone, figural piece.

Could this have been a whale oil lamp?

An example lamp below:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Antique-Rare-Miniature-Gargoyle-Whale-Oil-Lamp/322853631744?hash=item4b2b937700:g:Vt4AAOSwE0JY~V4c

I suspect the holes are too big for the wicks to make it a lamp.

I won't pretend to be an expert, but I suspect this is an object associated with lineage veneration, what the western missionaries to China (my late uncle was one) called "ancestor worship."

Especially in southern China (where my uncle was posted) every house would have had a household altar where incense would have been lit every day and where offerings of food and drink would have been made on a regular basis to the ancestors, the male ancestors of course, because lineage veneration was patrilineal.

To my eye the object pictured seems far too fancy to have been an object of daily use, but one that might easily have been found on the altar, perhaps to hold incense but more likely one or another of the various offerings to the po (the souls) of the ancestors.

None of this addresses whether or not the carving is an antique original or a later copy directed at the tourist trade. Lineage veneration was still very widely practiced in the early 20th century, and may still be practiced to some degree... I don't know. Regardless of its age and intended use, I find it, as do many others, quite attractive.

HERE is a Foo Dog incense burner, free standing. Seems like cgard2 is on the right track.

Definitely not an incense burner nor a whale oil lamp.....it's not the form of those things.
And it's not new tourist trade schlock, too finely worked for that.
But it may have been part of a house hold altar....
Or it may be a decorative wall pocket meant to hold dried flowers.

HERE

are several images of something similar. Notice chrysanthemum shows up often. I'm guessing this is a heavy item?

Of course it's heavy...it's soap stone....it's a decorative item, not an incense burner nor a lamp.
As shown by your link, Chinese soapstone carvings were a big thing...very popular in the teens and 20's....I used to see a piece at about half the household auctions I went to.
I am sure there are pieces that were older, but it seemed to be popular in the early 20th century....along with sand majolica and tramp art.

I've got a question for the poster who goes by lindac92, Is there some reason why you think every post is about you? I was addressing the OP and cgard2 in my previous responses. AAMOF I generally scroll past your posts. When I post here I try to share my knowledge and also learn something, I never found the "junkyard dog" approach to be helpful. My question about weight is for the OP, and does the OP think it sat on a shelf, if not how was it displayed?

The item is heavy for it size. The item has no kind of hanger so it most be a shelf item. The item is in Norway and is heritage from my grandfather. Meaning it is from around 1920 or earlier, because he got the item from his parents as heritage.

It's what my family would call an objet d'art and leave it at that ;-)

My parents had a lovely piece of carved soapstone that my sister requested after they died but when she passed it just seemed to disappear into thin air. Truly wish I could find it now.

It's a chinese brush holder. I have one. Called a student's or scholar's brush holder. There's a name for it but off the top of my head I don't recall what it is. Each section is meant to hold a different kind (and length) of brush for writing characters with ink. 2 holders is more common than 3. Mine has 2.

I researched mine extensively when I bought it at an estate sale. I don't have that info in my files, though: looks like I failed to record it. At one time they would have been common so not intrinsically valuable. Unless made in a more rare material than the soapstone. Every village would have had one person you would go to when you needed to write a letter or compose a document. Just a beautiful piece meant for every day life in the home of the person who did that work.

That doesn't mean yours was actually used for that. I think once it was found that westerners were buying them, they were made for tourists as well. The estate sale where I bought mine had many chinese objects that I think the people brought back from some big trip. I have jade carvings and lacquer cabinet from that same sale.

They don't hold water well, so don't use for a vase for live flowers.

I'll look for a photo of mine when I have time.

That makes a lot of sense...
And I see by a Google search that's very likely what it is.