What the figurine’s dress was carved from? (9)
I believe the answer is:
satinwood
'what the figurine's dress was carved' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'from?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'from?' could be 'in' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'in' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for satinwood that I've seen before include "tropical tree" , "Cabinet material" , "Hard material" , "Cabinetmaker's raw material" , "Timber" .)