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Scottish Squash Blossom Necklace by Maeve Gillies Debuts at Summer Exhibition August 12, 2021 (0 comments)
Isle of Lewis, Scotland--Scottish-American Designer Maeve Gillies, Co-Founder & Creative Director of Celtic-inspired US bridal brand MaeVona, has created a one-of-a-kind necklace set with rare Scottish ‘moonrock’, in tribute to the true story of a Native American Warrior Chief who flew to Scotland to help save a sacred mountain from destruction.
The Superquarry Squash Blossom is a sterling silver necklace inspired by the story of the Harris Superquarry, a decade-long battle to stop a sacred island mountain from being turned into a Superquarry site, and of the Native American Warrior Chief, Sulian Stone Eagle, who flew to Scotland to help save the mountain from destruction. It is set with black and white Harris anorthosite - a rare Scottish island rock also found on the moon - from the Superquarry site.
The necklace is styled like a traditional Squash Blossom design, featuring two hand-carved Celtic-inspired eagles as the central crescent shape, representing the golden eagles nesting on the sacred mountain that helped draw Stone Eagle to Scotland. Silver eagle talons grasp the unpolished rough center stone, shaped like the ceremonial Summit Rock given to Stone Eagle by community elders for his support, and returned to the island when the mountain was set free. The necklace is double-sided with a dark and a light side, to be worn either way out, showcasing the light and dark sides of the moonrock.
As Stone Eagle testified in Scotland: “The destruction of any mountain, river or forest is horrifying to all of us… It is no longer tolerable to pretend or ignore these assaults. Your mountain, your shorelines, your rivers, and your air are just as much mine and my grandchildren as ours is yours.”
Scottish writer, and environmental activist Alastair McIntosh, who brought Stone Eagle to Scotland said, “This necklace …. wow! It blew me away. This is a profoundly important piece. It speaks to our present times. The Eagle power you’ve packed in there, Maeve…how the Eagle spirit holds the light and dark together, a transatlantic antisyzygy. Truly beautiful. Really amazing, powerful symbolism.”
Maeve shared, “It was an honor to create this one-of-a-kind necklace with rare native stone, telling a story of such significance to the Scottish islands, whose indigenous culture, language and landscape continues to be under constant threat of change and loss today. I was deeply moved by Stone Eagle’s transatlantic journey to help protect our fragile shared legacy of Nature.”
The necklace is featured in the multi-disciplinary 'KIOSK' Art exhibition at An Lanntair in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland.