The raven has an ability to share a wide range of emotions. During their time with me I witnessed their capacity for tenderness, happiness, anger and surprise. They can also decide to hold grudges or act shy.

Consummate acrobats, they would dart over the fields, soaring on updrafts, somersaulting and spiralling as their jet feathers changed from purple to green in the wavelengths of light, rhythmically flapping their wings and then gliding towards me, their powerful 4-feet wingspan creating a sound that governed the silence.

The precious moments I spent with these masterful birds had a profound influence on me. Now they form the central expression of my debut collection. Their wildness finding its way into each finely crafted art piece.

Notes and Mythology

The raven is a protected bird found in the UK’s highlands, forests and wetlands. They are the largest Corviae, with a wingspan of almost four feet. Corvids have the largest brains, in relation to their body size, of any bird and they are tightly packed with neurons. By four months old, studies have shown that ravens have full blown cognitive skills. Before reaching full maturity, they can rival great apes and problem solve at a similar level to children under seven years of age. Tellingly, ravens have several collective nouns: a bazaar, an unkind, a constable and a rant; reflecting their complex personalities.

While often perceived as a foreboding creature, in many cultures the raven symbolises honesty, divination and hope. There is enchantment in the raven’s iridescent plumage, as it takes flight, that has elicited primal awe for millennia. The raven performs the role of mediator and protector, representing new beginnings and connecting humans to other realms.

The Celtic god Bran the Blessed believed ravens were his totem and the goddess Morrighan chose the form of the raven when going into battle. In ancient Japan, the three-legged raven, Yatagarasu was sent from the heavens to lead Emperor Jimmu through the mountains to establish his nation. In Egypt, corvids represent faithful love, for as the people of the ancient world correctly observed, they are monogamous. And for the Greeks and Romans, the Corvidae symbolised long life and was second only to eagles in importance.

Native Americans paint ravens as creators and shapeshifters. In Haida myth, the Grey eagle was the guardian of the sun, moon, stars, fresh water and fire. He resented people so much that he kept these things hidden, until a raven stole them and brought them into the world, but as he delivered the fire, it turned his feathers from pure white to jet black.  

In Cornish folklore, King Arthur is said to have entered eternity as a guardian raven. Thereafter, the people were so afraid to kill a raven in case it was the king. King Charles II insisted that the six resident ravens of the Tower of London were protected, warning that the crown and the kingdom would fall if they ever left the Tower. They remain protected to this day.

Central to Natasha Whiteman’s practice is her support of authentic craftsmanship. She has gone on a journey of deep discovery with some of the UK’s most skilled applied artists. Together, they have rediscovered storied techniques to imagine and create contemporary works. The artist’s practice has moved the boundaries of high art jewellery by re-invigorating crafts that go back centuries. It is this unchartered territory, where true innovation is unearthed.

Carving has been an integral skill for much of the collection. The master carver has taken ancient raw materials and transformed them into the most elegant, one-of-a-kind forms. 

Once the drawing, and then the maquette, have been finalised to create the movement and shape of each sculpture, the disciplined and intensive work of hand carving each raven begins. The many bespoke tools employed to work Wightman’s chosen natural materials of jet and boxwood, include the tip of a micro drill under a magnifying lamp for the intricately detailed work on the finest feathers. At this stage in the process, a mere half millimetre slip can be irreversible, so the master carver hand finishes the finer abrasive tips of the drill heads for the very detailed work. This is to ensure that the tip is precisely suited to the microscopic detail of each raven.

The exquisitely carved designs in moorland boxwood are blackened and finished to a deep lustre. It is this level of detail and contrast in the carvings that underpins their uniqueness and visual brilliance.

The art of goldsmithing completes Wightman’s process. The craft has been prized since antiquity but few possess the talent to handmake jewellery to virtuoso standards. She works with sought-after artisans who bring her vision to life at their bench, using the most precious metals and gemstones. Wightman’s signature handmade chains and clasps are bespoke, as are all the settings and framings, all quietly fashioned to attain a perfect balance of elements.

Natasha Wightman is drawn to ancient British materials and the raw power of the elements that conceived them. First among these discovered materials is Whitby Jet, an organic gemstone formed from the fossilised Araucaria tree. While found around the world, jet from the north Yorkshire coast is highly prized. No longer mined, small pieces fall from the cliffs during storms, eventually washing up on the beach. Wightman selects only the most exquisite and lustrous of these foraged samples in order to harness their intense, velvety blackness.

Whitby Jet has been worn as a decorative item since the Bronze Age. In Roman England it was believed that to wear it would deflect the evil eye and in Queen Victoria’s court, jet jewellery became highly fashionable. For the artist, it is jet’s delicacy and warm, natural finish that creates its appeal. Usually polished to a high shine, the master craftsman innovates jet for NVW, by intricately carving into its yielding texture, to uncover the raven within.

Native boxwood is equally evocative. Growing wild on the moors, boxwood is an unhurried, low-lying evergreen that provides a verdant habitat for small wildlife. NVW does not take it from nature. Instead, the artist secured a piece from a woodsman who had been resting it for twenty years. Boxwood has a small grain and carves elegantly, often used for ornaments and instruments. However, it has never been used for high art jewellery before. NVW’s chosen craftsman has developed his own intricate process of carving and blackening the material, which lends it an inky, tactile complexion.