Description

The wondrous love of a mother and child is represented in this beautiful pendant.

The main portion of the pendant is the figure of a mother holding a baby. Erik has taken great care to honor the bond of a mother and her child.  The mother’s body has numerous geometric designs representing earth, clouds, water, and home. Her face is detailed with hair, eyes, nose and mouth. The infant is swaddled and is held close to its mother.  The baby’s head is represented by a natural cabochon of beautiful Bisbee turquoise. The carving details on this pendant are magnificent.

The pendant has a Shepherd’s crook hanger in the back. This pendant can easily be worn on a collar or a stand of beads or heishi.

This incredible pendant of sterling silver has been cast in tufa stone, which is volcanic rock. Tufa-casting is considered to be one of the oldest techniques in Native American jewelry.  The process involves the use of Tufa, a light stone made of compressed volcanic ash.  The designs are hand-carved into the Tufa mold. Molten silver is then poured into the mold to create the beautiful and unique Tufa-cast jewelry.  Tufa molds commonly produce only a single piece of jewelry before the mold is unusable due to the destructive nature of molten metal. While requiring great skill and precision, Tufa stone allows an artist to be a little more creative with silver.

Although Erik is best known for his outstanding pottery, he is demonstrating his mastery of jewelry making as well. He is a very talented artist – and one that you should have in your collection.

Condition: Excellent – original condition – new
Provenance: Purchased from the artist