IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN....THE RAFFLE PAGE IS NOW LIVE!

Yes, it's that time of year again and the promotional page for the charity raffle in aid of Breast Cancer Campaign has just gone live. I am of course talking about the annual charity raffle that is taking place at

The Thame Dolls House & Miniatures Fair on Saturday February 23rd 2013.

Pair Of Hand Painted Tins & Bowl Donated By Victoria Fasken

Once again I am delighted to be co-ordinating this raffle as each year this proves to be a popular attraction at Thame Fair. Everyone's generosity never ceases to amaze me....from the artisan donators to the public buying tickets. There are currently four donations to kick this off.....and as the donations emerge, I will list them on the promotional  page in the order that they come in. Please note that the tickets can only be purchased at Thame Fair so hopefully we can tempt your mini tastebuds and entice you along to the Thame Dolls House Fair next February?

"The Bar At Folies Bergere" Donated By Ryan Terry Of Petite-Art

The raffle prizes, as always, will be from professional miniaturist artisans and traders only. So if there is anyone out there reading this who fits this category, no matter where in the world you are.... and would like to make a special donation, please do send them to me, Celia Thomas here at KT Miniatures. My contact details are on my website: www.ktminiatures.com.

A Pair Of 1/24th Scale Dolls Donated By Robin Britton Of Coombe Crafts

On the day, many of the rather lovely stand holders usually donate some magnificent prizes too so we often have well in excess of  30-40 prizes (and over 30 -40 winners).....so its worth coming to this very special and magical Oxfordshire event for that reason alone!!! The Thame Town Crier....will be conducting proceedings as usual.
 CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE RAFFLE PAGE

Old Style Trunk Filled With WW1 Mementoes etc. By Celia Thomas Of KT Miniatures

KT Miniatures will have a double stand at this event and its the only regular fair that I attend nowadays. So do please make a note in you diary of Saturday 23rd February 2013. It will be taking place at the Thame Leisure Centre in Thame, Oxfordshire. The M40 is very close, plus there is a regular bus that stops right outside direcly from Oxford Station plus Haddenham & Thame Parkway Station.  Not only are there 46 high quality artisan stand holders but there are various fundraising attractions too, all in aid of Breast Cancer Campaign, including the infamous Sales Table! 

This charity funds research into breast cancer and has great personal significance as I have lost both my mother and maternal grandmother to this disease. Sadly I am sure there are many of you reading this whose family and friends have also been touched by this awful disease, either directly or indirectly. So why not come along to this wonderful event and help us raise lots for the worthwhile charity and have an enjoyable miniature day out too!
CeliaX

A Rather Lovely c1930s Tri-ang Stockbroker!

A gorgeous circa 1936-38 Tri-ang Stockbroker dolls house has been put up for sale this afternoon, amazingly in original condition.....including all the wallpaper, flooring, fireplaces, bath, cooker, kitchen sink and dresser plus of course, all the windows! Also......it has the elusive second chimney and set of steps...which are often missing.  As the second chimney and steps were supplied loose they were easily mislaid over time...so consequently there are a lot of Stockbroker dolls houses out there missing these! 

I have promised the previous owner that this will go to a good home, which I have no doubt it will as this really is one for the serious collector. She told me this wonderful story on how when she was a baby, back in 1965, her builder father set off to an auction with the intention of buying two ladders for his work. However, he returned from the auction with this dolls house instead! Haha....fathers eh!

Anyone who knows about Tri-angs...will know that this particular model is big and you need a lot of space to fit it in. It measures just under 47 ½” wide x 17 ¼” deep x 24” high (when the loose chimney is perched on – it measures approx 26” high).

The original papers are lovely....and as you can see in the kitchen,there is that infamous amoeba patterned wallpaper and blue/white tiled flooring. Is great to have the original wooden kitchen furniture of a dresser, gas cooker and sink. We know that the gas cooker replaced the wooden range in the Stockbroker models around 1936-1937....so that helps us with the dating of this dolls house.The hinges have come away from the main carcas on the left frontage......but should not be too difficult to rehang.

 Plus this particular bathroom wallpaper design was believed to be in existence until about 1938/39....so this is how I arrived at the dating of this house. As you can see, the bath is still in place too......it is so pleasing to have these original features still intact!

 

The front door with its metal letterbox, knocker and handle opens to reveal the hall, carpeted stairs and landing. Again, you can see the original flooring and wallpaper, plus the landing has a strip of ballustrade.

  

The right frontage opens to reveal the living room and second bedroom, both with the fireplaces, flooring and wallpapers. The papers are glorious, still vibrantly rich in colour. There is a door leading into the side porch.

Then there is this side porch........I absolutely adore this feature. I think probably because it stems back from my childhood and we had a kind of back porch on our old 1930s lodge house....but nothing as grand as this. There is a little blue bench tucked inside the porch and as you can see, the side door with a full set of door furniture ie. knocker, letterbox and handle. Another lovely feature is the sundial above the porch, on the chimney stack.The dial bit is metal and the rest is a printed card image......very attractive.

 This dolls house is now available to purchase with a 10% Special Christmas Discount....as are all my other antique and vintage dolls houses currently for sale on KT Miniatures. This Special Offer lasts until the 3rd December. 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW FULL DETAILS OF THIS HOUSE

TOMORROW'S WORKSHOP

Finally.........am so looking forward to our last workshop of the year tomorrow (I know Robin is too).......the project is called
WHEN FATHER PAPERED THE PARLOUR....THE WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS! 
 It is certainly going to be a real fun project to do. 

Rumour has it there will be mulled wine, mince pies and even choccies in constant supply! Should be a good day. 
So to all the ladies that are coming.....see you there, bright and early at 10.00!
Celia 

Special Christmas Discount Offer Off All Antique & Vintage Dolls Houses!

In honour of the impending festive season, I am delighted to offer KT Miniatures customers a HUGE 10% discount off marked prices on all vintage dolls houses currently for sale on KT Miniatures.

 

So why not treat someone special this Christmas.....or you could even ask Father Christmas yourself! A vintage dolls house is an ideal Christmas present for any vintage dolls house collector.

This offer lasts for 14 days only and conditions apply - offer ends Monday 3rd December 2012 at 4.00pm GMT.

These are the dolls houses that are currently available......

 

1930s FRENCH DOLLS HOUSE & MUSICAL CARRIAGE

 

 

1920s-30s DOLLS HOUSE

 

 

1930s DOLLS HOUSE

 

 

1960s DOL-TOI BUNGALOW

 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW FULL DETAILS OF SPECIAL OFFER INCLUDING TERMS & CONDITIONS.

 

 

'Tis So Good To Be Creating Again....

At long last I have been able to get back to my workbench once more, after a considerable absence of doing so....and it feels great!

 

I had the theme of our next weekend's workshop in mind as I created these items (an Edwardian room in the throes of being wallpapered). Various furniture and specific relevant items covered in old sheeting as the wallpapering is taking place! However they could just as easily suit a spare room or even attic too.

 

 

These will be unveiled properly at next Saturday's workshop sales table (24th November)....and then what is not sold, will be listed on KT Miniatures soon after.

Please Respect My Copyright

 Yep...this little chestnut has raised it's ugly head again.
 

PLEASE by all means, enjoy the photos and content of both KT Miniatures Journal and www.ktminiatures.com

but

please do also remember that they are protected by copyright.
 

It is both polite and a legal requirement to ask and be granted permission first before you use my photos and content. To "lift" my photos and text to put onto another website without my knowledge/consent is a clear breach of my copyright! 

You will find that there is and always has been a Copyright Disclaimer to the right of this KT Miniatures Journal and also within Terms & Conditions on every KT Miniatures web page.

So yet again,  this is a polite request to please respect my copyright.

Thank you

Celia

An Old Miniature LMS Train Time Table....And Two Other Rare Treasures.

I have had some rather special miniatures come in these past few days, some of which were snapped up immediately they went up for sale on Monday....I will show you those lower in this posting. However first, I want to show you something that I listed late yesterday and something that I have never seen before. It is amazing.......

A very old LMS Time Table....in miniature!

 LMS, for those who don't know (I didn't fully and had to Google it) stands for....London Midland Scottish Railway....which was one of the main railway companies that I understand commenced in 1923 and then ended when it was nationalised at the beginning of January 1948.

So this is old....exactly how old, I don't know. It measures just 1" in length and has simply LMS printed on the red front and back cover. The spine says LMS Time Table. There are a lot of pages in this little book....far too many for me to count, but every page appears to have a different time table and information. I even got my very big strong magnifying glass out to see if it was possible to read any of it but nope.....the print is too weeny and my eyesight is not quite what it used to be. I guess this was created as a novelty marketing item for the railway company.

I am also surmising, that due to material shortages during and after the war, that this wouldn't have been printed in the 1940s and am assuming that this was printed either 1920s or 1930s. It is in excellent condition, with just some staining on the lower edge of the pages....hardly noticeable. This has been sitting up in a loft for decades, untouched, along with the other items that appear below.

How cool it would be to have this sitting on your old dolls house sideboard or table! Could also appeal to railway enthusiasts. Can be found on KT Miniatures Antique 1/12th General Page.
CLICK HERE TO SEE FULL DETAILS


And now for a couple of very special little items that came with the timetable and which were listed on KT Miniatures website on Monday but then which were sold almost immediately.

THE SMALLEST DOLL IN THE WORLD

First up is this teeny wooden doll that fits inside a wooden egg. These are around and if you look on the internet alone, much can be found out about them....but dating seems a little sketchy....anything ranging from late Victorian to the 1930s. This one appears to originate from the 1920s and has been stored away in an attic for decades, untouched. I have never handled one in such wonderful condition before, I don't think it has ever been played with.

 

 Isn't she lovely! The tiny doll, with jointed limbs, measures a mere 5/8" long.

RARE 1924/25 CHIVERS & SONS LTD.  JAM & BRITISH EMPIRE EXHIBITION ENVELOPE

 

 This envelope says it all really, doesn't it? 

This tiny strawberry jam ....and yes folks, I believe there is real strawberry jam in there, was made by Chivers & Sons Ltd. as a reproduction of the ones supplied to Queen Mary's Dolls House. The dolls house was actually on display at the British Empire Exhibition which took place at Wembley in London from 1924 to 1925.  The craftsmen and tradesmen who contributed to the dolls house, ranked amongs the very finest of the era.

As you can see on the front of the envelope, it tells us that this would have been purchased from the Chivers & Sons Ltd stand at the exhibition....

absolutely wonderful and a little piece of social history.

Rare French Dolls House With Musical Toy Carriage!

First of all.... I would like to extend a very warm welcome to several new Followers who have joined us on here just lately. I hope you'll enjoy KT Miniatures Journal and stop by regularly!

 Ok....now to these lovely items.....when I first set eyes on this old house with all its contents, I couldn't take my eyes off it and just stood there trying to take it all in! I have never seen anything quite like it before, let alone the iron musical carriage that comes with it. Even now, when I go back to take a look, I'm still noticing things that I hadn't seen  previously. 

I was told that it came from a Parisian attic and was from the early 1900s but those tin windows (probably German) suggest otherwise and is much more likely to originate from the 1930s at the very least.  But there is no doubt that it is quite old.

 I understand that this house was made by the head of a French household with the furnishings and accessories made by the females of the family, including the four little dolls. Then this has been passed down through the family, much played with and added to over the years.

The house comes with a real diversity of fixtures and fittings from the various eras eg. a Victorian framed photo of a gentleman, possibly a family member, sits above a fireplace and in complete comparison, there are a couple of 1954 Lundy Island triangular pictorial stamps of all things,  fixed to the wall above dresser shelves....how wonderful is that!

The house itself is created in wood very much like a trunk....in fact it could well have started life out as a trunk then been adapted into a dolls house. It has big heavy metal catches and hinges, opening out into two halves. There is a gorgeous rich red/terracotta ghesso type finish on the outside. The previous owner wiped the exterior down with a cloth and simply gave it a coat of wax polish...which has brought up the detail beautifully. Some rather lovely brickwork has been painted on the frontage and further details around the edges. There are three metal windows on the front with ticking canopies draping over each one.

The front door seemed so familiar and then the penny dropped (as they say).....of course it's an old Tri-ang dolls house door! On close inspection one can see a redundant swing catch on the edge of the front so I would suspect the original front door was wooden and swung outwards.

 There are four rooms and most of the furnishings plus accessories are fixed down, including one of the four homemade dolls.

As you can see, there are some very clever touches of food, plates etc made from buttons and material embellishments......amazing.

The wooden sink is laden with all sorts....including an old metal washboard and button plates waiting to be washed up.  Can you see the old hook coming out of the wall to represent a cold water tap.....nice touch!

 

The pillow on the bed is amazing...probably created from some sort of uniform badge. As you can see though, this house has been greatly played with and the fabrics are well worn and frayed, in fact quite threadbare in places such as around the bed. However, I don't know about anyone else but to me, the wear and tear simply adds to the charm.

But then, as you know, KT Miniatures is a huge fan of the "aged and much loved look".

 

And then there is this carriage, made out of iron and tin.....and incredibly heavy! If you wind the key underneath it plays O Sole Mio...yes honestly!  Like the dolls house, this has also been much played with. Only one wheel now goes round and the red velvet upholstery interior is in a poor condition where bits and pieces have so very obviously been glued in and then removed..... but nevertheless....this is utterly extraordinary. I have never seen anything quite like this before and have not been able to find out anything about it's origin. The only clue is a FOREIGN label stuck underneath. The music I understand was composed in 1898...so that's at least a marker to begin from!  I am assuming that it's the same age of the house .....but regardless of it's origins, it is amazing.

These two wooden headed dolls with wired limbs and, I suspect human hair, are in a sitting position so are intended for the carriage. It has been suggested that they could be a bride and groom?  There are two other dolls, one which is permanently fixed down to a round wooden plinth in the kitchen and a tiny pipe cleaner dog.....very sweet. All have been created in the same way.

Here is a short video of still photos of this house and toy carriage....please put your speakers on to hear the actual music from the carriage and enjoy!

This old house and carriage is now being offered for sale.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW FULL INFO