Sculpture & Aesthetic
A Chance Miracle
We can carve an eye socket. What the stone reveals within it is beyond our choosing.
As the left socket was hollowed into this malachite skull, the carving exposed a remarkable coincidence: a pale green centre surrounded by darker, spreading rings, uncannily like the eye of a peacock feather. And there it was, deep inside the skull’s own eye.
That chance alignment is the heart of The Peacock’s Gaze. The hand gave the stone its form; the stone revealed a detail we could never have placed so perfectly ourselves.
The Peacock’s Gaze
There is something quietly miraculous about it. The sweeping greens of malachite already carry the richness of plumage, but here that resemblance gathers into a single, extraordinary point. A feather’s eye becomes the skull’s gaze.
We love the presence this gives the whole sculpture. Rich, restless bands sweep across a face held in complete stillness. Within that face, the little eye seems watchful, almost knowing. Its beauty has a strangeness that stays with us.
Another skull could be carved to the same dimensions. This meeting of pattern, depth and position belongs to this piece alone.
The Making of This Piece
A Form Shaped by Hand, a Gaze Given by Stone
Hollowing the eye socket brings the carving beneath the outer surface, revealing a different passage through the stone’s bands. Here, that depth places the feather-like eye inside a natural frame: the rounded rim of the socket, the brow above it, and the cheek below.
The shape of the skull gives the surrounding pattern a changing rhythm. Long bands stretch over the forehead, then bend across the cheek and gather around the jaw. Carefully separated teeth give those flowing greens a firm, measured edge.
The finished piece holds both kinds of character together: the recognisable structure of a human skull and the unpredictable pattern carried within this particular stone. Their meeting gives the face an expression that belongs to it.
The Stone
Green Unfolding Like Plumage
This malachite comes from Zambia. Across its polished surface, pale and deep greens flow into ribbons, concentric rings, and broad pools of shifting color. We love how these patterns echo the layered beauty of feathers, with delicate lines unfolding into fuller, rounded forms.
And the beauty doesn't stop at the eye. Along the side of the skull, clusters of curved bands create new rhythms and textures, carrying that feather-like impression across the sculpture without ever repeating quite the same pattern.
The Pattern Belongs to the Whole Stone
Across the crown and back, the bands travel in longer sweeps before gathering into smaller, tightly folded formations. Dark recesses and irregular surface passages give the polished green further depth and variation.
At 4,962 grams, this is a substantial sculpture, with enough breadth for those patterns to unfold around the entire form. The left eye is its extraordinary point of recognition; the surrounding stone gives that small miracle a world of its own.
Identity & Provenance
1/1
Specimen No. 62
Collector’s Assurance
The exact artwork
You will receive the exact piece shown in the product photographs.
Careful packaging
Each piece is carefully packed to protect its carved surfaces during transit.