Much to the disappointment of some of my friends on facebook, (where I made a passing reference), this isn't the eighteenth century military type of mitre, but the medieval ecclesiastical type. A Bishop's to be precise.
Now, strictly speaking, most medieval bishop's mitres were white, with gold, silver and jewelled trimmings. However, my client for this wanted purple, so purple he shall get!
This is a relatively early mitre - it has the classic double point, but it still has straight sides (later they were angled).
It's made in purple wool by Hainsworth, and trimmed with gold and silver lace from Wyedean Weaving. The crosses are hand cut (from silver metallic pvc!) and hand appliqued onto the wool.
The whole thing has a buckram and wire frame, and the end result is a handmade hat (of medievally style!).
The buckram sides, with the wire in the process of being hand sewn to the top. The top of the frame was then attached to this, again, by hand.
The mitre after the frame was built, and the outer was added. Lightened to show the herringbone stitching used to attach the sides to the crown.
And finally, the front of the mitre, and the back, showing the tails (again, cut from wool, this time unhemmed (this wool does not fray), and edged with gold metallic fringe.
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