Finishing spanish cedar onion domes

[jessloucks]

Hello,
My first post. I am looking for some advice on how to finish 3 onion dome carvings done in spanish cedar. They are replicas of 3 of the domes on St. Basil's cathedral in Red Square Moscow. I do need to color them, but I want a muted color that will still show the grain of the wood. I live in an old victorian home, so I thought simply painting them wouldn't be authentic to the rest of the woodwork in the house (they are being used as the newel post finials for my stairway). The domes have been carved so they are segmented, so obviusly I'm trying to avoid any color from bleeding from one wedge to another. An art teacher recommended that I seal the wood first (with shellac or varnish) and then use colored stain. I'll take anyone's advice. I certainly do not want to ruin these during the final finishing stage. Thanks in advance.