Has it really been almost three weeks since I put up a posting on here? Life seems to have been filled with so many distractions just lately, mostly of the rather lovely kind (sadly not all though). I am learning to juggle KT Miniatures with looking after Grandson No. 1 once a week and driving up north to see newly born Grandson No. 2. And the other day my youngest offspring and I spent an entire day in London having a makeover and photo shoot at Studio 52 based in Hammersmith...what a laugh! This was a present from my youngest, and although I was well out of my comfort zone...as my makeup these days usually only consists of a touch of lippy and mascara on days out (plus I'm not a fan of having my photo taken) I actually enjoyed the experience!
It proved to be rather expensive in the end, so we shared the cost. But for a one-off experience, I can highly recommend it. And although this one above was a bit mad, we had some really nice normal mother and daughter pics for the family album, which I shall treasure. For years Mr KT and I had talked about having a family portrait, and we simply never got around to it and now it is too late. There is a lesson to be learned here...and it will be one of my regrets. So I am determined, for my (ahem...cough) MEGA BIG birthday coming up in 18 months, to have a proper family photo shoot with all sons, daughter, daughter-in-laws and grandchildren. I shall have to start saving up my pennies:)
Ok...now to miniatures. I have been meaning to highlight just some of the delightful rare miniatures seen in this photo above, most of which were sold about 3 weeks ago. So without further ado, here they are...
This antique German bottle rack and three tiny coloured striped bottles with original tiny corks,is quite rare and to date, this is a first for KT Miniatures. I have not handled one quite like this before. Bottles yes, but never with the rack.
Amazingly the rack was fully intact with no cracks, so too the three little bottles.
How on earth did these little glass treasures survive the past 90 years or so? I nervously bid farewell to them at the post office, as they set off in a well padded box for New Zealand. Posting glass items is always a little nerve wracking. But at last I have heard of their safe arrival so I can now breath a sigh of relief.
These antique pink glass egg cups and tiny white glass eggs, I have never seen before. And in fact, to date, I still cannot find out any information about them...except they have to be pre WW2, as all the items that accompanied this set were around the 1920s-1930s era.
Aren't they delightful and so weeny too? They all measure around 1 1/8" high with the egg sitting in an egg cup.
There is something very childlike and nostalgic about this wooden range. I do not know the exact era this was made or by whom, but it has been well constructed.
The little oven door opens and the controls down the right hand side are painted screws.
There is a tiny shelf above the painted hob detail, which would look fabulous laden with tiny pots, pans or plates. I wonder if this was a commercially made item or if it was homemade from plans, such as Handicraft or Hobbies? I have had a quick delve into my own copies of those handbooks but cannot as yet find anything that quite matches this design.
This soft metal antique German fireside tool set does not often come along these days anymore in such amazing condition. The metal is very soft and fragile, it can bend easily. Hence the thin spindly soft metal tools are particularly vulnerable, so to still have the tongs, shovel and poker fully intact and still present is refreshing.
The stand itself is quite attractive with pretty embossed detail.
Underneath it clearly states the origin as GERMANY.
Another German soft metal item is this toast rack.
Again, it is refreshing to see it fully intact, as over the years I have often handled one of these with feet or spindles missing. It is quite large in scale so really most suitable for either a large scale dolls house or an old dolls house where scale does not matter. All the above were sold quite quickly.
And now something not so nice....
Sadly last week my lovely elderly stepmother suddenly discovered her cash, credit & debit cards, cheque book and bit of paper with pin number written down (don't ask) had suddenly gone missing - out of the one hiding place where she had always kept them (unbeknown to the family). There are two theories about how she may have been burgled - neither of which do not bear thinking about. The first could have been when she was in the far end of the garden, her kitchen door would have been unlocked so an opportunist thief could have come over the garden gate and sneaked in. However the mystery is, how would the thief have known the exact place to look without making a mess, and why was nothing else taken? Secondly, it may have been taken by someone known to her who had been visiting? Somehow, that seems even worse than the first option.
However...she seems very confused and cannot seem to remember the last time she saw any of it? Thankfully, as soon as she raised the alarm, the bank could be notified and so far it appears that no money has been taken out of her accounts. She has been told so many times NOT to keep her pin number with her cards!
But all of a sudden, coupled with another recent sequence of events which resulted in her giving her bank details over the phone to a complete stranger, it has suddenly become apparent that her short term memory loss no longer amounts to just repeating herself or dithering over people's names. It is all beginning to look a little more serious and I feel very sorry for her.
Meanwhile, the mystery of the missing items remains....maybe we will never know.
Sad times.
Celia
