Green Serpentine Figurative Face Sculpture (200mm)

This face has real conviction in the way it’s carved. Rather than a serene or inward-looking expression, the artist has resolved bold, frontal features directly into the stone: wide, rounded eyes with defined lids and deeply carved pupils, strong arching brows, and a broad, stylised nose shaped with quiet authority. Beneath, a sweeping moustache is rendered in deep, parallel grooves that curve outward and downward from the base of the nose, framing the mouth with rhythm and clear intention. The overall silhouette is oval and pebble-like — smooth, self-contained, and settled — giving the piece the feel of a protective visage, a face with genuine character and a watchful, grounded stillness that holds its own in any space.

What elevates it further is the interplay of surface and finish. Across the facial planes, the Opal Serpentine has been brought to a lustrous, glassy polish that reveals deep forest and olive tones, threaded with darker mottling and scattered mineral flecks that catch and shift in the light as you move around it. The outer and upper surfaces retain a softer, matte quality—naturally textured and more elemental in feeling—creating a beautiful, deliberate contrast between the worked, reflective face and the raw character of the surrounding stone. That tension between the polished and the unworked is not incidental. It is what gives this piece its sculptural honesty.

Because it is a natural stone, the colouring, patterning, and mineral balance are entirely its own. No two carvings are ever alike, and yours carries a character that cannot be replicated — a genuinely individual piece shaped by human skill and ancient material in equal measure.

Substantial and beautifully weighted at 200mm tall and just over 4.8kg, it holds its ground with quiet authority. Set it on a plinth or side table as a sculptural focal point, place it among curated books and objects on open shelving, or let it anchor a console where its bold expression greets you each day. However you choose to display it, it brings depth, presence, and a striking sense of grounded personality to modern interiors.

Green Serpentine Properties

• Material: Green Serpentine (Opal Serpentine variety)
• Form: Hand-carved figurative face sculpture
• Colour: Deep forest and olive green with dark mottling and natural mineral flecking throughout
• Carving Style: Bold, stylised frontal facial features — large, deeply carved eyes, heavy arching brows, broad nose, and sweeping parallel moustache grooves — set within an oval, pebble-like silhouette
• Finish: High-gloss polish across the facial planes contrasted with matte, naturally textured outer surfaces.
• Origin: Hand-carved in Zimbabwe by skilled artisans within the Shona tradition
• Dimensions: Height 200mm; Width 141.5mm; Depth 115.3mm
• Weight: 4,813g
• Lustre: Glassy, reflective sheen across polished areas; matte and naturally textured on outer surfaces
• Transparency: Opaque
• Mineral Family: Serpentine group
• Mohs Hardness: Approximately 4–6
• Appearance: Bold frontal figurative face with expressive carved features, polished facial planes, matte outer surfaces, and natural variation across deep forest and olive green tones
• Display Style: Freestanding sculptural object, ideal for plinths, side tables, shelves, consoles, or styled interiors
• Use: Decorative sculptural centrepiece for display and characterful, mindful space.s

Green Serpentine Metaphysical Properties

Green serpentine is widely associated with grounding, protection, and gentle emotional renewal. With its rich earthy tones and bold carved expression, this sculpture is often chosen for spaces that benefit from a settled, steadying atmosphere — and for those drawn to stones that feel quietly protective and reassuring rather than intense.

• Grounding by helping you feel more centred and connected to the earth
• Protection through its dense, absorbing energy
• Emotional balance as you release tension and restore a sense of calm
• Renewal through its fresh, revitalising character
• Inner stillness by encouraging patience and composure

Shaped into a bold, watchful face and carved from a single mass of stone, it takes on an intentional, almost guardian-like quality—holding a sense of presence while bringing grounded, harmonising energy to the space around it.

History & Lore

Serpentine has been treasured across cultures for thousands of years, valued for its soothing green tones and its remarkable workability under the carver’s hand. The Opal Serpentine variety, with its fine grain and capacity for a deep, warm polish, is especially prized by Zimbabwean sculptors — its colours shifting between deep forest green and gentle olive across each finished surface, every specimen unique.

In Zimbabwe, serpentine is central to the celebrated Shona carving tradition, an art form that has earned sustained international recognition for its expressive, semi-abstract figurative forms. For generations, Zimbabwean sculptors have worked this stone entirely by hand, reading each block’s natural colour and grain to reveal the form held within. Bold, frontal faces such as this one echo the guardian and ancestral imagery that runs through that tradition, honouring both the artistry of the maker and the material’s elemental beauty —a meeting of human intention and natural legacy.