by VERONICA DOYLE
Mbuji Mayi, 1984. A young girl is outside playing near her uncle’s house. While exploring a pile of rejected earth near the MIBA Diamond Mine, she discovers a natural, rare diamond that weighed in at about 407 carats. It was to be measured as the fourth largest diamond ever found. The stone would be cut down later to 303.3 carats, be named the Golden Canary and declared the largest internally flawless diamond graded by the G.I.A. (Gemological Institute of America). Eventually, it landed in the hands of famed jeweler Mouwad and was set into a stunning piece that would be called L’Incomparable Diamond.
Some may have heard of this stunning stone, though most have not. Even though the gem was stumbled upon more than 40 years ago, it is too young in its discovery to have the provenance as other famous historical stones. Hearing about the Hope or Cullinan diamonds tend to garner a more immediate recognition. To be further appreciated, this “new old” stone needed further exposure to the world.
Huntersville artist Laura Czerwinski had been seeking a new challenge in terms of her next art project and decided to put together an interpretation of Mouwad’s presentation of one of Earth’s greatest masterpieces. Presented in a glass shadowbox to mimic a jewel in a display case, this acrylic on canvas features the use of Musou Black paint, one of the blackest blacks in the world. This allows the piece to appear as though the jewels are resting on black velvet. “I hope to use this technique with future works featuring other lesser known, but still stunning, unearthed treasures. My plan is to create a collection of pieces in a variety of sizes. This will allow others to easily inject some sparkling history in their own environments. Plus, showing interpretations of not-as-famous gems will hopefully serve as some great conversation starters.”
Throughout its various transformations of different cuts and settings, the diamond has made appearances at the Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC; American Museum of Natural History in NY; the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris as well as an exhibition featured at both the Royal Ontario Museum and the Houston Museum of Science entitled The Nature of Diamonds. While the stone itself is now in a private collection, the painting is planned to be a part of Mooresville Art’s Artoberfest exhibition from October 1st-November 14th.
photo caption: Artist Laura Czerwinski’s interpretation of Mouwad’s Guinness record-winning L’Incomparable Diamond. You can contact Laura by email at lcczerwinski@gmail.com for private commissions.
