This design is a colourful little enchantment made from hand-cut collage, Gelli-plate prints and flashes of gold foil — inspired by one of my many visits to Melbourne’s NGV, which has long been a kind of medicine for my soul. I can lose hours in there, wandering between the old masters and the contemporary magic-makers, following whatever catches my eye. (And it’s FREE. Bless you, City of Melbourne.✨)
On one particular visit, I found her: a porcelain dancing lady, No. 7 of 15, who stopped me in my tracks. There was something quietly spellbinding about her — the flowing lines, the suspended movement, the feeling that she might, at any moment, step out of the glass and take me dancing.
She is part of an iconic Art Nouveau collection celebrating organic form, movement and the liberated female figure. And then I discovered there were fifteen of them… in flowing garments, with scarves and musical instruments.
This deeply resonated, as dancing with my own “sisters” has always felt medicinal — music playing, bodies moving, laughter rising, and for a few glorious hours remembering the wild, joyful women we were (and still are) before the world told us to behave.
And now, more than a century later, No. 7 is still dancing. She has simply traded porcelain for colour, gold and rain — carrying a whisper of her old magic beneath a new canopy.
The full collection was commissioned by the Sèvres porcelain manufactory and modelled by sculptor Agathon Léonard in 1897.
If you’d like to learn a little bit more about her, just go to “Dancer with marguerite daisy, from The Scarf Dance table centrepiece, model no. 7″
(Danseuse à la marguerite, from the table centrepeice Le Jeu de L’Écharpe).
Specifications:
- Shape: Octagonal (8 panels)
- Length: M: 52cm [21″]; L: 102cm [40″]
- Open Canopy size:
- (M: 135x135cm [54″x54″] – easily fits into a standard tote/handbag, comfortably can shelter up to 2 people standing/walking in half-circle shape,
- (L: 150x150cm [60″x60″] – wow factor, lightweight, comfortably can shelter up to 3 people standing/walking in half-circle shape, perfect for special occasions/golf, great walking stick/self-defence apparatus if unsavoury characters approach
- Easy & fast opening action in case of rainmergency (just press button on handle)
- Material: Polyester
PRE-ORDERING:
🎁Next pre-order deadline: Fri, 9th Oct 2026⏰
TIMELINES (calculated from pre/order deadline, unless in current, immediate stock)
Australia: Because all umbrellas are made to order, please allow up to 14 days (after pre-order deadline) for your order to be shipped. All umbrellas are delivered by Australia Post (however, if urgent, please contact us directly to find out if your choice is currently in stock).
International: Because all umbrellas are made to order, please allow up to 3-4 weeks (after pre-order deadline) for your order to be shipped (perhaps sooner – subject to current airfreight circumstances). (However, if urgent, please contact us directly to find out if your choice is currently in stock).
POSTAGE/DELIVERY options:
- FREE pick-up at Montsalvat, Eltham (free) – use promo-code pickup at checkout!
- SHIPPING:
- Australia: $15
- International: $50
