Vesper and Fig the Owl and Mouse Pendant

The forest has gone completely quiet. Not the ordinary quiet of a calm evening. Something else. The kind of quiet that happens when every creature that knows better has stopped moving entirely. Vesper is hunting. And somewhere above her, Fig is not breathing.

The Owl That Hunts by Sound

Barn owls are so unlike every other owl that they were placed in their own separate family entirely. Most North American owls belong to the family Strigidae. Barn owls belong to Tytonidae, a name that comes from the Greek word tuto, meaning night owl. Their skulls are longer and narrower. Their tail feathers are shorter. Their eyes are smaller. Even where their sternum connects to their body is different from every other owl. They are so distinctly and completely themselves that no shared family with anyone else would do.

That extraordinary heart shaped face is not decorative. It functions as a parabolic dish, working exactly like a satellite dish to capture, focus, and amplify the faintest sounds and channel them toward two ear openings positioned at slightly different heights on either side of the face. The left ear sits a little higher than the right. This asymmetry allows the barn owl to pinpoint the precise location of a sound in three dimensions, not just left and right but up and down as well. In research experiments conducted in complete darkness, barn owls were able to capture live rodents rustling on a bed of dry leaves with stunning accuracy, navigating entirely by sound without a single photon of light to guide them.

Each feather along the edge of her wings is softly fringed, breaking up air turbulence so completely that her flight produces almost no sound at all. She is invisible to the ear as well as the eye.

Fig has understood all of this perfectly. He is not moving. He is not making a single sound. He is betting his life on the fact that a completely still mouse is a mouse Vesper cannot find. He may be right. For now.

The Necklace

She sits against a dark star scattered night sky inside a pendant framed by wildly textured bark and branches and botanical elements that make the whole piece look like a window cut into the night forest. Every single feather of Vesper's body was etched individually by hand, each one contributing to that extraordinary softness that allows her to fly without sound. Her heart shaped face looks out with complete and quiet focus. She knows something is up there. She just has not found it yet.

And there at the very top of the pendant, easy to miss if you are not looking carefully, Fig crouches completely still among the branches. Waiting. Hoping. Not moving a single muscle.

The pendant is about 2.75 inches tall and 1.25 inches wide and comes on an 18 inch sterling silver loop chain with a sweet heart shaped clasp. Every element was made entirely by hand from sterling silver from scratch. Nothing was cast. There is not another one like it anywhere in the world.

• Pendant size: About 2.75 inches tall and 1.25 inches wide
• Chain: 18 inch sterling silver loop chain
• Clasp: Heart shaped sterling silver clasp
• Material: Sterling silver throughout
• Hidden detail: Fig the tiny mouse at the top of the pendant

One of a Kind

There is only one Vesper and one Fig in the world. When they find their home they will never be made again exactly like this. Fig will never crouch in exactly this spot again. Vesper will never look out from exactly this night sky again.

A Note from Tamara

I made this necklace because barn owls are one of the most extraordinary hunters on the planet and almost nobody knows the full story of what they are actually doing when they hunt. I wanted to capture that specific suspended moment, Vesper focused and listening, Fig completely still, the whole forest holding its breath. I hid Fig at the top because I wanted whoever wears this to have a secret. Most people will see a beautiful barn owl necklace. The right person will look closer and find Fig and understand immediately that they are looking at an entire story. I hope that person is you.

Shipping

Vesper and Fig are finished, packaged safely, and will be on their way to you within 3 to 5 business days.