Mother and Child

Subject

The central subject is motherhood. A mother holds her baby close against her body, creating a quiet and intimate scene at the heart of the composition.

The two figures are surrounded by an elaborate arrangement of hand-carved flowers, leaves and stems that extends around the perimeter, so that mother and child appear to emerge from a miniature sculptural garden.

The carving includes the mother and infant, detailed facial features, draped clothing, individual flowers, leaves and stems, layered background carving, pierced open areas and strong three-dimensional relief.

The pierced sections are especially important visually: they allow darker areas beneath the carving to show through the shell, increasing contrast and giving the composition additional dimensionality.

Handcrafted by the Artist

This cameo was carved individually by Grzegorz Kiernicki and mounted by hand in his own workshop. Nothing about it is repeated: the material dictated the composition, and the setting was formed around the finished carving.

• —High-relief shell sculpture rather than a conventional shallow cameo — at approximately 2 cm thick, the figures and flowers project substantially from the surface.
• —Figurative carving: mother and infant modelled with detailed facial features and draped, layered clothing.
• —Floral carving: individual flowers, leaves and stems worked around the entire perimeter of the composition.
• —Pierced shell work: areas carved completely through the material introduce shadow and negative space, deepening the sense of dimension.
• —Layered background carving allows the composition to read differently from every viewing angle.
• —The generous 5.2 × 5.2 cm format gave the artist considerably more space for narrative and detail than a conventional small cameo.
• —The textured silver setting and large integrated bail were fabricated by hand specifically for this individual carving.
• —Carving and metalwork form one unified artwork — hand-carved, handcrafted, artist-made, one of one.

Material & Silverwork Details

• —Carving material: natural shell, retaining its pale ivory and grey tones with darker material visible through the pierced openings.
• —Metal: silver — a substantial handcrafted setting with a deliberately textured, organic surface that complements rather than competes with the carving.
• —Bail: a large integrated handcrafted silver bail allows the work to be worn as a pendant.
• —Reverse: extensive handmade metalwork with a hammered, textured surface, demonstrating that the setting was individually fabricated rather than mass-produced.
• —The natural handmade characteristics of the metalwork have been left visible; they are part of the character of the piece.
• —Disciplines represented: figurative carving, high-relief sculpture, floral carving, pierced shell work, jewellery design, hand fabrication, silversmithing and natural-material composition.
• —Provenance: from the lifetime collection of Grzegorz Kiernicki — jeweller, painter, sculptor and artist. He personally designed, carved and mounted the piece, so carving and setting should be treated as a single original artwork rather than a commercial cameo placed into a separate mounting.
• —No date of manufacture, shell species, silver purity, gemstones or historical attribution is claimed pending independent confirmation.