Friday 7 December 2012

A Bit Of Lateral Thinking....And Some Rather Lovely Miniatures!

Being a miniaturist, it helps to think laterally at times. I have just listed today, some mini treasures that were not originally created specifically for dolls houses.....but could be put to good use in our little miniature abodes.
There is this wonderful early 1900s Eagle Gas Range by J. Wright & Co. of Birmingham, England....and is in fact a tin money box....probably created as an advertising gimmick to promote their real life sizes Eagle Gas Ranges. The front oven door is moulded and non opening, for effect only. Around the back is a tiny little door that opens so that you can  retrieve your money from inside.....the money slot being above, as you can see in the photo. 

 Ok....it maybe rather large and not fit your ordinary common and garden antique dolls house.....but if you have one of those delightful quirky large dolls houses with extremely high ceilings and where scale really does not matter.....this could be perfect for you.  Alternatively, you could simply create a quirky large scale room box in an old crate or similar....and collect some of the wonderfully oversized miniatures that not many people can fit into their average scale dolls house? To give you an idea of scale, this actually measures 5 1/4" high x 3 1/2" wide x 3 3/8" deep. 
This can be found on the Antique 1/10th & Larger Scale Page.

Then there is this...at first glance may look simply like a vintage miniature box of Granola Digestive Biscuits.
If you turn it over it looks like a tin of Rich Tea Biscuits....however on close inspection you will see a loop at the side....pull that and you will discover that this is in fact a tape measure that pulls right out. When you have finished with it, you simply press the little central button and the tape springs back in.  Again, like the cooker, this was probably an advertising gimmick- this time by Macfarlane Lang & Co Ltd, in order to promote their biscuits. It is absolutely exquisite.
And finally.......here is another money box...this time a safe. It is made from cast iron and is incredibly heavy. The door still has the original key so can be locked and unlocked with ease for you to retrieve your pennies! However, in an antique dolls house, this could look amazing.....maybe in a library, drawing room or even attic room. Let your imagination run wild! Age is unknown but could be early 1900s, certainly very old. Also maker is unknown....there was some sort of writing on the front but is illegible. 
This and the biscuit tin tape measure are both just a little larger than the traditional 1/12th scale items, so would suit an antique dolls house where scale doesn't matter. They can be found on the Antique & Vintage General Page


With Christmas nearly upon us, it is probably apt to give you advance warning that KT Miniatures will be closing it's creaky doors at midday on Wednesday 19th December for the festive holidays. I will be opening again on Wednesday 2nd January 2013. There is still plenty of time to order your mini treasures for Christmas though.........I have lots , both handmade and antique/vintage including several dolls houses.  Plus of course there are Marion Osborne's rather wonderful reference books on Tri-ang and Dol-Toi, for the serious dolls house collectors.....exclusively now only available from KT Miniatures! 

All would make rather lovely Christmas presents either for yourself or for someone special. However, pleeeeaaase remember that if you are asking Father Christmas for any items from KT Miniatures, please do remember to give him the correct reference and description, as stated on the website listings. This little Santa's Helper would hate to send the wrong item! 
Thank you.
Celia

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hello, another blogger suggested your website as I have begun to decorate a dolls house in 1950s style - I'm so glad she did, what amazing things you have on here! Scarlet (ascarletdreamer.com) x

KT Miniatures said...

Hi Scarlet....welcome and am glad that you found us. Enjoy! Celia