Stone #2: Spear-maid (finished?)

 

This slab is one of the smaller ones - about 30cm wide by 40cm high, weight about 7 kg. I tested all the earmarked stones with my old luggage trolley and it (just) managed to transport them all (one at a time) to the car - good to know for when these finally have to get installed in less than 2 months. As the sandstone is not strong, dropping and knocking these finished works will have to be avoided at all costs.

Following on from the earlier 'scratch' work, I spent several hours outside today finishing it off  (the design looks better in reality but I had to compensate for strong and very bright lighting conditions). The sandstone is soft enough that no actual chisel work was required - in fact that's convenient, as any hammer work tends to chip away from the determined groove, causing flaking and diminishing the design. The only tools used were a small awl, a toothbrush (for cleaning out the dust) and a steel ruler for defining the spear lines (plus, of course, a face mask to protect against the airborne dust, an issue I'm very aware of from my past work with clay). I was able here to add as much or as little detail as I wanted, putting it in on the hair and face, leaving it out on the sword hilt. I like how I was able to use a damaged part of the stone over the spear-head to simulate wear and part of the 'original' work having fallen away. As a much shallower piece than the raven votive stone, in terms of incision, it therefore suggests a different character, design and purpose for the work, although whether the individual is Womba's bodyguard and friend Gerthild herself, or one of her sisters, is still undecided. I did like how I was able to get my own gendered aesthetic into the design, namely in the defined bicep curve, showing that the spear is not just a ceremonial object but in the hands of someone trained in its use. For more of that aesthetic sense, see, for example this T-shirt design I made a few years ago:

 The design was originally based on the above Viking-age female amulets, often assumed to depict priestesses or valkyries. But instead of mead-cups, this one bears a spear, embodying the duality of the valkyrie-figure as both warrior and hostess.