Do you remember a glass dome on a mantel or a side table, with flowers or a little bird inside, and someone telling you not to touch it? Glass domes have been keeping treasures safe from dust and fingers for well over 150 years. Some hold a Victorian wax bouquet. Others hold a 1970s spray of silk roses with a butterfly resting on top. Here's how to tell what you're looking at.
Our ginger jar shaped glass dome, with dusty blue silk roses, dried flowers and a butterfly perched on top, is $48, and it's the only one we have.
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Dome, shade, cloche or bell jar?
You'll hear all four words, and they mostly mean the same thing to a collector: a glass cover that sits over something to protect it.
- Shade: the word the Victorians often used. A London museum record for an 1850s wax flower kit says the finished flowers would be "protected under a glass shade."
- Dome: the everyday word today, especially for Victorian parlor pieces. You'll see "parlor dome" and "display dome" in a lot of listings.
- Cloche: French for "bell." It started in the garden. Market gardeners around Paris in the 1800s set bell-shaped glass covers over young plants to keep them warm. Today decorators use the word for almost any glass dome.
- Bell jar: a glass jar used in science labs. Sellers often use it for decorative domes too, since the shapes are so alike.
The Victorian parlor dome
Glass domes became a must-have in Victorian homes, and timing had a lot to do with it. Britain repealed its tax on glass in 1845, and glass domes of all shapes and sizes became affordable to middle-class families. A few years later, at the 1851 exhibition at the Crystal Palace in London, crowds saw parlor crafts and new taxidermy on display. How-to books and magazine articles spread the craze even further.
By the high Victorian years, roughly 1860 to 1880, a fine home most likely had at least one dome in the parlor. They sat on the mantel, often in pairs, or on a center table where guests could admire them. Domes came round or oval, short or very tall, and they were a talking point as much as a decoration.
What Victorians put under glass
- Wax flowers and fruit: the Victorians loved these. Makers used beeswax, bleached white and colored with pigments, and a wax bouquet could mix roses and tulips that never bloom at the same time. The London firm Mintorn & Son sold wax flower kits, published a how-to manual in 1844, and specialized in glass shades to cover the finished work.
- Taxidermy birds: brightly colored birds posed among grasses and branches were a favorite. Most feathered specimens went under glass to keep insects out. Preserved pets and playful scenes of frogs and monkeys turned up too.
- Hair work: flowers and wreaths made from human hair. Hair work was most popular from the 1850s to the 1880s. It was made for parlor domes, shadow boxes and family trees, and it became closely tied to mourning, as a way to keep a loved one close.
- Clocks and figures: mantel clocks, busts, porcelain figures and even small musical automata were kept under domes to stay clean.
- Everything else: shell flowers, skeleton leaves, feather and paper work, beads, seeds and wool. If a Victorian lady could make it, she could put it under glass.
The 1970s and 1980s butterfly dome
Glass domes came back into style in the 1970s and 1980s. These later pieces are smaller and simpler than most Victorian domes. You'll usually find a spray of silk or dried flowers on a turned or square wood base, often with one or more preserved butterflies perched among the blooms. Some domes are a classic bell shape, and some are rounded like a ginger jar.
Most of these are unmarked, so the maker is usually a mystery. If a paper label survives on the bottom, it's worth reading before it flakes away. Taiwan is worth knowing about here. In the 1960s it processed huge numbers of butterflies every year into ornaments and decorations, and it earned the nickname "butterfly kingdom."
See it in person: under glass and Victorian curiosities in the shop
A butterfly dome, a couple of butterfly treasures to keep it company, and a few pieces with real Victorian parlor spirit. Each one is a single piece, so when it's gone, it's gone.
Old or newer? How to tell
- Bubbles and waves in the glass: Victorian domes were usually mouth blown. Look for tiny air bubbles, slight changes in thickness and a soft wavy look when you turn the dome in the light. Newer machine-made domes are usually clearer and more even.
- The bottom edge: old domes can have tiny nibbles along the rim, left when the glass was cut from the blowpipe. Dealers count these as part of how it was made, not as damage. A big chip is another story.
- The base: Victorian bases were usually turned wood, often ebonized (painted or stained black) or polished mahogany, sometimes on little feet. Some have a groove cut into the top where the rim of the dome sits. Some were lined with velvet. Later domes usually sit on simpler wood bases, sometimes with felt or rubber feet underneath.
- Does the dome match the base? Domes and bases get separated over the years. A dome that rocks, or a groove that's much too big, can mean the two didn't start life together. A replacement base is fine, but it should be disclosed.
- What's inside: wax, shell, hair and taxidermy point to the Victorian years. Silk flowers, dried everlastings and a perched butterfly point to the 1970s and 1980s. Labels, newspaper scraps or old writing under the base can be good clues too.
A word about butterflies
Butterflies in vintage domes are usually real, preserved specimens. Many are common kinds. The paper kite, a large black and white butterfly, shows up in 1970s domes, for example.
It's still good to know what you're buying. Some butterflies are protected by law. All birdwing butterflies, for example, are covered by CITES, the international treaty that controls trade in endangered wildlife. The world's largest butterfly, the Queen Alexandra's birdwing from Papua New Guinea, has extra rules on top of that. Many butterflies sold today come from butterfly farms and ranches. Papua New Guinea has run a government-backed butterfly ranching program since the 1970s, where some butterflies are raised for the trade and the rest are released into the wild.
In the U.S., bringing wildlife into the country, even dead specimens, has to be declared to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and selling it commercially across borders takes a license. A vintage dome with a common butterfly is a different thing from a rare specimen, but if a piece holds something that looks unusual, ask the seller about it. When in doubt, the Fish and Wildlife Service is the place to check.
Caring for glass domes
- Dust the outside only: use a soft, dry cloth or a feather duster on the glass and base. The whole point of a dome is to keep the inside clean, so leave it closed.
- Keep it out of the sun: light fades color. Museum conservators warn that light fades the pigment in natural specimens, and silk flowers and dried blooms fade too. Pick a spot away from a sunny window.
- Don't pry off a glued dome: many 1970s and 1980s domes are fixed to their bases and were never meant to come off. Forcing one can crack the glass or crumble the dried flowers inside.
- Victorian taxidermy: old taxidermy was often treated with arsenic soap, and conservators advise wearing gloves when handling taxidermy made before about 1980. If you see a fine white powder, leave it alone and keep the dome closed.
- Watch for bugs: small piles of dust under a bird or butterfly can mean pests got in. That's a job for a conservator, not a home fix.
- Lift it by the base: never pick up a dome by the glass alone, and carry it with two hands.
For more on cleaning glass, wood and other old materials, see our guide to cleaning and caring for vintage finds.
What collectors look for
- Original dome and base together: a matched set with a snug fit is worth more than a dome on a replacement stand.
- Glass with no chips or cracks: old bubbles and waves are fine. Cracks and big rim chips are not.
- Bright, complete contents: unfaded flowers, all the feathers or petals in place, and butterflies with whole wings.
- Size and shape: tall domes, oval domes and matching pairs draw extra attention, since they were made to sit together on a mantel.
- Unusual subjects: Victorian taxidermy scenes, hair work and wax flowers are prized. For 1970s domes, collectors love pretty colors and well-kept butterflies.
Under glass and curiosities in the shop
- Ginger jar shaped glass dome cloche, with dusty blue silk roses, dried flowers and a butterfly on a square wood base, from about the 1970s to 1980s.
- Chinese painted enamel on copper trinket box, with a blue butterfly and orange flowers on a hinged oval lid.
- Pewter overlay mini perfume bottle, with irises and a butterfly in the Art Nouveau style.
- Antique desilvered mirror with a Rococo print on the back, with that haunted, aged glass look.
Love little treasures that live on a shelf? Our guide to vintage trinket boxes covers the many kinds, from enamel to silver.
Keep browsing:
Trinkets & oddities →Vintage home decor →Gift guide →
Keep reading: Vintage Trinket Boxes · Spooky Victorian Finds · Georgian vs. Victorian · How to Clean and Care for Vintage Finds
Was there a glass dome in your grandmother's house? What was inside it, and were you ever allowed to touch it? Tell us about it.
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