KT Miniatures NEW Archives Is Now Live....

It is a very long time coming but I am delighted to announce that I have finally got around to creating a proper Archives section for KT Miniatures various antique and vintage dolls house items, some special collections and also handmade scenes...amongst many other miniature related items too. 

You will find the Archives link at the far end of the main navigation bar at the top of my website. Just click on the link and it will take you through to a main holding page. Simply scroll down and click on each relevant link that interests you. As you can see above, there are sections of sold antique and vintage dolls houses. I will continue to add items of interest as and when I can, as I do have more photos and details tucked away in old files but all this is extremely time consuming, so it will still take some time yet before it is complete.

You will also see special collections that have been sold over the years, such as "The Builders Collection". Long standing followers of KT Miniatures may remember these old items that were found in the loft of a house that was being renovated by a builder. He was going to throw the whole lot away in the skip thinking that they were rubbish but then discovered some pieces with "Pit-a-Pat labels on and rang me for advice! Needless to say I told them that they were quite valuable indeed and most definitely not to chuck them in the skip! The rest is history.

And can anyone remember the story of the lady who rang me out of the blue because she had found some miniature plants tucked away in a teacup at the bottom of a box of china that she had won at auction. It was the china she was buying so was not expecting to find these tiny rare Beatrice Hindley treasures in her auction goodies. But after a little research she discovered that they were valuable and thankfully gave me a ring. I nearly fell off the chair when she told me she had four that she wanted to sell..ha ha... that really was a magical and rather memorable phone call!

Amongst the Archives I have included several of my articles written over the years on various antique and vintage miniature items, including one about this intriguing 1920s/30s dolls house. Or was it a dolls house - it had been suggested that it could have been a trainee architects model?

Also included is a concise gallery of KT Miniatures creations. There are a variety of commissoned projects on there and projects created for various magazines too. The scene above was a commissioned piece of a wartime hospital ward at Xmas - was another favourite of mine.  Plus there are joint projects with Robin Britton (my now retired workshop colleague) and miniature scenes I made simply to sell via KT Miniatures, all within this section. 

You will  find one or two projects on there that are also in video form as well as a pictorial gallery form - including one of my most favourite projects of all time - Robin's and my joint magazine project - The WW1 Dugout, Trench & Poppyfield. Later sold to raise funds for The British Legion.

Plus On A Cold & Frosty Morning...The Morning After The Night Before. This again was auctioned off later to raise funds for Breast Cancer Campaign. 

And finally right at the end of the Archives, I have included a pictorial gallery of all the workshop projects Robin and I created over several years, under the banner of  Nostalgia In Miniature Workshops. Above you can see the very last project we undertook - An Early 1900s German Style Shop. 

To view  KT Miniatures Archives, please click on the following link:

http://ktminiatures.com/archives/

Well I have spent many hours and had great fun going through all my old files to create KT Miniatures Archives. Has brought back so many happy memories. I hope that the information and photos will be of interest and a useful resource for antique and vintage dolls house collectors, and miniaturists alike.

 Celia

Some Fascinating Additional Information That May Just Be The Answer To This Mystery!

 Do you remember reading about this unusual antique house on here?

 http://ktminiatures.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/a-stunning-1920s-1930s-little-house.html

Well... I would just like to say a HUGE THANK YOU to the lovely UK customer of KT Miniatures who took the time to email me the other day with some fascinating information and one that may well have given us a clue to the origin of this wonderful little treasure (actually I say little-but in reality it is massive).

The lady told me that her grandfather used to be chief architect for a northern city council from the 1920s to the 1940s and that back then, student architects trained on the job. Apparently one of the things that they had to do early on in their training was to build a scale model from an existing plan. The trainee either chose a plan themselves or were given one at random of a property that the planning department were considering for building approval, then had so many weeks to construct a model of it. Height of cornice, size of mouldings, choice of colour schemes etc. were deemed just as important as the construction of the exterior and each trainee would be marked on all aspects of the model. Some of the resulting houses were given to children's homes, to younger sisters of the maker etc.....and the failures were simply burnt! 

This little house is a masterpiece so am sure that the maker of this passed with distinction-if indeed it is a student architect's model!!!

It has now been sold and is about to embark on a new chapter in its life. I'm totally torn in letting this particular house go as I absolutely adore it but simply don't have the room to keep it.  Plus of course, as I have to keep reminding myself, I am supposed to be running a business here!!!

Celia

 

A Stunning 1920s - 1930s Little House!

I have just put up for sale today a truly stunning 1920s-30s dolls house. It is breathtakingly gorgeous and I have already spent many hours just staring and admiring it! I love it but it is big and I have no room for it...so it has to go....oh soooooo very reluctantly!!!!!

 

Actually, this is such a very curious house and am of the opinion that this was not created originally as a dolls house at all....but was in fact a 1920s-1930s developer's model, to use as a show house whilst the housing estate was being built. This was to help give a prospective buyer an idea of what the finished house may look like.  What has led to me this conclusion is the detailed appearance of the exterior including the beautiful bay windows and the internal layout. The layout inside is a bit odd indeed if it had been intended as a toy, particularly the enclosed kitchen.

It is accessed at the front via two opening halves. There are two main rooms, one upstairs and one downstairs - each with an Art Deco wooden fireplace and dual aspect. 

 The hallway has a door leading into the main downstairs room and also another door leading into the kitchen right at the back. Stairs lead up to an enormous landing that also has dual aspect plus a side window too. Am intrigued as to why, if this was meant to be a toy, the landing area was constructed in this way with a lot of wasted space and more especially why the only access to the kitchen is via the hall door and the back door?

 

You can just about glimpse the small kitchen via the back door and through the kitchen window in these photos, although sorry the pics didn't come out too well. (Sorry about the dusty hall floor too...oops!)

There are six pieces of original furniture that came with this house, as you can see above. All wooden and very basic.

Each room has the original decor including the lovely picture rails.

I love this porch area. The two porch windows and door are glazed with very thick crinkled glass. 

The bay windows are to die for.....simply stunning and very skillfully made! 

As you can see in my previous post, I washed the original curtains (they were disgustingly dirty) but have finally come up a treat and I have put them back in place using the original drawing pins that came with it. 

This vent intrigues me....it is such a realistic touch but rarely seen on a dolls house. 

The roof has been very carefully constructed with wooden mock tiles and the chimney is gorgeous too.

For further details including suggestions on maximising the potential of this house,  please click on the main promotional page:

www.ktminiatures.com/1920s_1930s_Dolls_House.htmlwww.ktminiatures.com

Back From Travels - A Rare c1920s-1930s Dolls House!

Well.....after several days of dashing up and down the country picking up stock and meeting some very nice people, am finally back from my travels ready to burst forth with loads of lovely vintage goodies on KT Miniatures!

To begin with, there is this rare dolls house....I think you'll like it.

c1920s-1930s Dolls House
Just gone up for sale this afternoon, an unusual and quite large c1920s-1930s dolls house. It is beautiful!!! There are some real quirky details and this house simply oozes character.

It consists of four rooms, with staircase, two interior doors and built in fireplaces plus a kitchen range.

 

 

 

All windows are fully glazed with real glass.......and just look at this oriel window! So very evocative of the 1920s/30s era!!!

 

 

Textured glass is incorporated into the handpainted brick frontage - all very art deco in shape and style. The panelled garage doors open to reveal a very spacious garage interior....just think what you can put in there!

 

 

The Tudor styled gabling, the wonderful slatted roof, weatherboarding at each end plus some magnificent chimneys are some more of the rather lovely features to this house. Maker is unknown but the creator has incorporated some glorious shading on the roof and quite professionally painted foilage in parts.

 

 

Then there is this attractive paving....two different colours and types. I have not seen any quite like these before but very cleverly done.

Each end of the house is bordered by handpainted brick effect pillars with chains strung across......the hooks were there but the chains had long gone so I strung pieces of vintage chain across and aged a little with burnt umber paint...can easily be unhooked if necessary.

For Full Details Of This Listing....CLICK HERE

Also just come in is a 1930s Dolly Mixture dolls house. But more about that tomorrow.