Pinned · Set · Catalogued
Moths, given a second stillness.
Each one is relaxed, pinned, and spread by hand — a small ceremony for a creature most people only ever meet at a lit window. Moth Priestess is the workshop of Jilly MacKenzie, keeping specimens for collectors, cabinets, and the curious.
No. 001 — Moth Priestess
The Priestess
Kept by Jilly MacKenzie
Moth Priestess is a one-woman workshop. Every specimen that leaves it has been relaxed, pinned, and spread by the same hands, under the same lamp — no two boards ever set quite alike. Jilly works from ethically sourced and farmed stock, following traditional entomological method, so each moth keeps its true wingspan, colour, and character long after it has stopped flying.
- Practice
- Traditional relaxing & spreading
- Sourcing
- Ethically sourced & farmed stock
- Mounting
- Archival pins, museum board, glass-topped frames
- Home
- United Kingdom — shipped worldwide
The Cabinet
A drawer of recent specimens
Atlas Moth
Attacus atlas
The largest of the silk moths — wings patterned like stained glass, with a snake’s head at each tip.
View on Etsy →No. 027Luna Moth
Actias luna
Pale jade wings and a trailing tail, spread and set within a day of relaxing.
View on Etsy →No. 003Emperor Moth
Saturnia pavonia
Britain’s own — four eyes on four wings, watching from behind the glass.
View on Etsy →No. 041Death’s-head Hawkmoth
Acherontia atropos
The skull marking earned it a place in folklore long before it earned one in a frame.
View on Etsy →How Each Piece Is Made
From relaxing box to display case
Setting a moth properly takes weeks, not minutes. Nothing is rushed — wings that are pinned before they're ready will crack or sit crooked forever after.
- 01
Relaxing
Rehydrated in a sealed chamber for several days, until the wings move without cracking.
- 02
Setting
Pinned through the thorax and spread by hand on a board, held true for two to three weeks.
- 03
Mounting
Moved to museum board or a glass-topped frame, with a hand-lettered specimen label beneath.
- 04
Sending
Wrapped flat and boxed for the post, ready to hang the day it arrives.
Visit the Cabinet
Every specimen lives on Etsy.
New moths are catalogued as they set — usually a handful a month. Follow along, or ask a question any time.
United Kingdom · shipped worldwide