Miniatures

Miniatures, where did it start? years ago is the answer,  I still have the small lathe, drill and fine files to do such work.  The scale you work in is 1/12, but probably what started me off was a gift of 2 Georgian silver chairs and table in 24 scale many years ago and I became intrigued by tiny objects.

When I started to explore the photos I remembered old internet friends, Claire in the East End of London, who would make vignettes of East End market stalls and another friend who lived in Carew in Wales, she collected old clocks, took the insides out and made little tableaus of kitchens, etc.

The first thing I bought from the really good toy shop called Tridias was this hat shop, and made the hats from felt (hardened with wallpaper glue round a screwdriver handle), the budgerigar feathers from the outside aviary in Victoria Park,  Lillie has the hat shop now and it has fallen into disarray, children now days sadly are more into electronic goods, computers etc (don't ask me what the etcs are because I got lost years ago).  But the Tridias shop at the bottom of Walcot street was a beautiful old fashioned toy shop. 

A lot of the background stuff you can buy, there is a whole cottage industry out there, and I learnt to make larger boxes to fit the scenes in as they took my fancy.

Still always needing a dusting

This hat has been sprayed with gold

The dollshouse came later, a typical Bath Georgian house, so familar in my day to day life, walking down to Bath through The Circus and Queens Square early morning was a great pleasure.

Its door must have been missing for 15 years! still mean to fix the hinges

Farleigh Hungerford Castle

The hall that Tom hung the dolls from

The kitchen in the d/h has not changed much, note the blue tac, detail is all important.

None of these  scenes exist now, a hobby given up years ago, but the little cake and pie I see in the above photo was made by a friend years ago, and in the end I sent her all my books on the subject.