A tree for the trinkets..

Parlour Dome with a wooden base, containing the small Tudor Nightcap I worked following a course from Thistle Threads. It's spangled and gold laced, and what my grandmother would have called a dust catcher, so if I want to show it off it wants protecting!

When I had the idea about using a parlour dome for the Violets and for the necklace, I realised that I would need to play with how I displayed them, trialled the Tudor Nightcap in the dome and realised that I could now put it on display.

So what about all the other Thistle Threads pieces?

Well, it turns out you can get parlour domes that aren’t round, so I got the largest I could bring myself to buy and then stopped to think…

The Floral Glove, Tudor Rose panel, and three little cushions in Tudor goldwork, displayed under a parlour dome. They don't really fill it, so it looks a little half-hearted.

I started by playing around with propping the various pieces I’ve been planning for that Winter Decoration Corner against one another within the dome. It’s a flattened oval, and quite high, but anything I could improvise seemed not to have the height I wanted without taking up all the display space.

I think this shows the idea will work, but it doesn’t really have the presence that the pieces deserve.

This time the Floral Glove, one of the little cushions, and a hanging ornament are all hanging from the branches of a wire tree. I think this looks better.

This is better. I’ve used offcuts of the foamcore that I bought to help me with Nefertiti and Akhenaten to create the base that will sit inside the glass, sandwiching the beginnings of the wires forming the tree between two layers. I’ve built up a support for the green and orange cushion at the back using smaller bits of foamcore, and wrapped pipe cleaners around the wires.

It’s not perfect, but I’ve set it up in the hall where I will pass it every day, to work out whether I like it. Then the idea is that I will have a lovely messy hour or so covering the wire with papier mache, allow it to dry, and paint the whole thing gold.

The Tudors were as fond of bling as the ancient Egyptians, after all!

7 Comments

  1. Sue Jones says:

    Oh yes! The small dome is perfect for the nightcap. The other pieces look really good as a group. (If the wire doesn’t work for you, keep an eye on jewellers or knick-knack shops, because they often have very small display stands for their counters and windows.)

  2. Kathy says:

    What a delightful idea, such beautiful embroidery deserves to be on show and properly seen. The practical side of me also thinks, ooooh, well protected from any dust.
    I was thinking about embroidered caps like yours recently, along with nightcaps, Wee Willie Winkie style, and it occurred to me that this was what folk did to keep warm when windows were draughty, floors uncarpeted and central heating centuries in the future. Perhaps there should be a revival? 🙂

  3. Carolyn Foley says:

    I will have to get some of these domes. All my work is in the bottom draw because of the bright sunlight and dust here. I’m sure with some of these I could get some of my work out on display.

  4. Lin says:

    A lovely way to display your work and the gold will work beautifully I think. xx

  5. Deborah Parsons says:

    Such a great idea!

  6. Linda C says:

    The work looks great in the domes, great idea.

  7. Susan says:

    The dome idea is a good one, and I like the second arrangement quite a bit. Yes, bling it up for the Tudors! LOL