Every so often, I find myself the owner of some not so old dolls house miniatures, which come as a job lot along with gorgeous antique and vintage mini delights. Well yesterday I put up for sale two such lots...and quite different from the dolls house items that I usually sell. But each set of furniture in their own right, are little treasures and both sets are in 1/12th scale.
Old Style Chairs - Painted Plastic!
The previous owner told me that many years ago, she just happened to be passing the Hermes shop in King Street - Manchester, and saw these chairs in the shop window as part of a display, discretely placed among the most exquisite and rather expensive silk scarves. She said that they looked just right in that setting. However, when she passed again later, the window was being re-dressed. So she went in to enquire about them, and was told that they were going to be thrown out...so she had them!
When I first saw a photo of these sent by the previous owner, at first glance I thought they were the real deal! And others must have thought they were too, especially whilst they were being used to display high ended luxury silk scarves. But no, these four chairs are painted plastic and the upholstered fabric seats have been painted too - probably by the shop window dresser purely for that particular window display.
However, even though they are just painted plastic, I think they are fabulous! And ideal for use in an old dolls house. Even though the paintwork is now a bit patchy, they still look great and I think it just adds character to the overall effect.
At the time of writing this blog, these are available under the Living & Dining Room Page.
c1980s Reproduction Chinese Black Lacquered Furniture
When I first saw these not so old pieces of black painted furniture with gold decoration, I did not have a clue quite how modern they were. By chance as I was flicking through the pages of Margaret Towner's book "DOLLS HOUSE FURNITURE", on page 61 I found a coloured photo of that same furniture which helped shed some light on these pieces. And they were a little older than I first thought.
Margaret refers to these as "one of two wooden products worth a mention for their adherence to the traditions of their respective countries." She goes onto say that from the Chinese People's Republic during the 1980's came a series of charming sets in imitation black lacquer with gold decoration, copying the furniture exported from China during the 19th century.
However, Margaret does warn in her book that some of these Chinese furniture sets have been found to have been "antiqued" by unscrupulous people trying to pass them off as very old - so please be warned! But they have been quite well made and are nicely decorated, and in the right miniature setting could look super.
I was not sure which category to put this assorted furniture set under, as they individually could be used in a variety of rooms, so I decided to put them under the General Section, which at the time of writing this blog, were still available.
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