Hand painted, Lithuanian Chicken's Egg

[mitretight]

Hi All

Following your very generous help on my last post, can anyone offer advice on this one.

I have been given a hand painted, blown, Lithuanian chickens egg to frame. Pic attached. (I think I must attract tricky jobs)

I have made up a small box for it (pic) and want to know how to mount the egg within the frame. I have thought of mounting on a golf tee, but that would mean gluing.
the other thing I think may work is using crepe paper to support the egg, pushing it to the front of the frame.

What do you think??

MT

[prospero]

There should be a hole in each end where it's been blown. Maybe thread some cotton though? If you make a little 'nest' for it with scrunched up velvet/velour, that and the thread should hold it gently in place.

[mitretight]

Hi prospero,

Unfortunately, the holes either end have been covered with a blob of paint!

MT

[A3DFramer]

Chinese painted eggs came double threaded with plastic bead, it was possible to stretch the thread by adding elasticated thread and make the so the could be rotated. As yours has been sealed the golf tee idea may work if you put a second reversed coming from the top. Some tees may have or be made to have enough cup to hide a small piece of something like blue tak.

[prospero]

Hi prospero,

Unfortunately, the holes either end have been covered with a blob of paint!

MT

That's just typical. Dam Lithuanian egg-painters. I've shot 'em......

[topcat]

I don't have any advice for framing of the egg; however my wife is lithuanian and i can assure you they are equally tricky to make!

[A3DFramer]

The painted ends; Easily reversed if you have steady hands and I good eye, which I once had . Try it on another egg if you wish. Take a fine drill and set it into the center of the cross section of a piece of dowel, about the size of a pencil. Hold the egg gently in one hand and press the tip of the drill lightly into the paint at the point, where the hole should be, gently rotate the dowel between forefinger and thumb, the paint will lift away like swarf if it is plastic enough and your pressure is right. Drill 2 holes.

For the next stage you will need very fine florist wire, absolutely straight, insert the wire into the egg at the blunt end and hold the egg, pointed end down about 2-3 in from the table top, lightly shake the egg so that the wire can find its way to the lower hole and drop through but not all the way out. If the drill has drawn the paint out as swarf this will work, provided there are no other obstructions within the egg.

Lay the egg on its side and super glue a suitable fine thread to one end of the wire, make sure the glue has set before drawing the thread through the egg. Double thread and thread a suitable coloured bead onto the end you want the bottom of the egg to be or two beads if you want to display the egg horizontally.

With fine drill and the right coloured thread the hole will be almost invisible, but a light touch of acrylic paint correctly matched will disguise it.

The thread will be tied off top and bottom of your frame with egg positioned somewhere in the middle resting on the on the bead. I found it best to have a second smaller bead to tie off the position for the bead to rest on.

From this set up it is possible to figure out ways to rotate the egg or eggs for those that are well painted all the way around.

[prospero]

I used to have an egg drill once. Dunno where it is. But if I remember it's like a countersinking tool but with a steeper angle. Bit like a mini Christmas tree shape.

[Roboframer]

I would do one of two things, depending.

1. Cut a shaped melinex mount. See that central stalk, the brown pot it's planted in and the orange shape at the top? That shape! With the vertical bar (the stalk) being absolutely tiny, 1mm or so wide. That shape would be extended with 'legs' to wrap around and through the mounting board, one top, one bottom (extending from the pot and the orange shape, horizontaly), and two central (vertical top & bottom). That would hold it very safely and as tightly as you wanted, which wouldn't be very, it's an egg! At the sides, i.e. where they start to go out of sight of frontal viewing, the 'legs' would widen for extra support. Melinex ... as versatile as an egg

2. Cut a small oval recess and stick the sucker!

But what I wouldn't do is poke holes in it.

[mitretight]

I think I'm with you roboframer,

Cut a small oval recess and stick the sucker!

I am still thinking of the best option, I'll keep you posted. This could be one of those "on-going projects" ie. Work in Progress type jobs.

I think you know what I mean.

MT

[Kwik Picture Framing]

I kind of like your glue on a golf tee idea but with a variant. Instead of using glue you could use a glue dot, the type of sticky gum they use to stick a credit card to the advice card when they send it out to you.

Glue dots are easily commercially available and I've use them to stick painted craft items before and peeled the glue dot off afterwards and it doesn't damage what it was stuck to (obviously I'd test this on any egg with some paint on before necessarily just going ahead).

I even know a supplier of the glue dots if you can't find any.

[A3DFramer]

Having a busy life being retired and my seasonal obligation to 'Green Bean Chutney', I return to this topic perhaps too belatedly to be of immediate help, but you say it may be an ongoing subject.
There seems to be 2 main points of service to your client.
1.To fix the egg without compromise.
2.To dispaly a small object and give it presence.

After some thought a 3/3 case comes to mind, 3 sides translucent, 3 sides solid a construction often favoured by Victorian taxidermists, group of craftsmen that often come in for undeserved ribaldry, but at the upper end of their profession, 3D framers of considerable skill.

The 3/3 case in its many forms can lose presence when reduced but there were those who set them in picture frames. The method to get round fixing an object is to make a 2 piece case. I have often been told that framers do not have the time for case making, but where some framers have learnt a few case making techniques they do seem to expand their repertoire exponentially.

To resolve this problem in novel way, would, I believe, require the use of several skills that would be to time consuming to enter into now.
Use of fabrics rather than mount card. Not popular with the framing world mafia.
Using the flexible properties of silicone to produce a hinge joint. Already dismissed on this form as an out of date product, I find by reading back through old posts.
And as already mentioned taking a few lessons from past masters, whose craft is often thought of as a joke.

If you are interested PM me, I cannot promise a quick fix but maybe an interesting ride, but it will be at my own leisurely pace.