Artisan's mother and child (5)
I believe the answer is:
mason
'artisan's' is the definition.
(mason is a kind of artisan)
'mother and child' is the wordplay.
'mother' becomes 'ma' (Ma is another word for mother or mum).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'child' becomes 'son' (male child).
'ma'+'son'='MASON'
(Other definitions for mason that I've seen before include "Craftsman working in stone" , "One works with stone or brick" , "secretive lodger!" , "figure in lodge" , "Actor James" .)