Background
In October, my friend’s peer contacted me and informed me that my friend, Mistress Adair, would receive her Pelican, first peerage, on Twelfth Night, a January event in Atlantia, which is like a prom.
I could not be more honored to complete that task, but I needed some guidance. Where do I start? It was not the first relic I have made for a peer, but this had to be beadwork since the recipient, like myself, was an amazing, talented beader. In addition, she has a persona from Tudor’s time in Scotland. So, I went deep into research.
Obviously, I had to look at the Tudors’ jewelry and portrait collection when I ran over this portrait of Elizabeth I.
The necklace has a big central piece, a ruby joust in gold with four additional gems around forming a cross, plus the pearl pendant at the bottom and the strong pearls.
I used to replicate metal work with beads, but my main problem was finding that central piece that was light enough, had a pelican picture or engraving, and wouldn’t get lost in the bead shine. I asked my friend, Baronka Ingegerd Kastanrazi, a talented potter, to help me with this task. She agreed to design a cabochon based on an Early 16th-century Maiolica Glazed and lustered Platter created at the School for Maiolica in DeRuta, Italy, using period recipes for the glass. The result was astonishing.
Once I received the cabochon, I got to design and miracle of engineering.
I received two cabochons made in different designs and decided to go with the left one because the edging could be beautifully aligned with the beads’ edge, and the color scheme looked a little better compared to the gold beads.
I went through my hoarder collection of seed beads and found a beautiful blue glass highlighting the blue color of the cabochon itself. I also picked pearl and different gold colors to play around with. In addition, blue glass beads can act as four gems to form a cross.
I aligned the cabochon on the felt where I could graph the actual cross, and while embroidered, I ensured the design aligned as needed.
I embroidered blue glass pieces and a central piece with bronze seed beads and blue Swarovski crystal.
After edging with bronze beads of size 8/0, I attached the toggle along with three artificial drop-shaped pears to balance the pendant. After that, I attached the pendant to a strong string of large natural sea pearls separated by the same gold seed beads I used in the embroidery.
This is one of the most beautiful works I have created, and I pour my love into it because the person who received it helped me stay in SCA and become who I am.
Phoenix Safe Place 