Autumn Cottage Diarist

First Acquisitions of 2012

It didn't take me long to 'run away' to Hungerford for an hour yesterday, as family members trickled back to work and I needed a respite from putting away the Christmas decorations. It was my first proper 'outing' on my own since before Christmas, so I was like a kid in a sweet shop when I discovered these charming little carved wooden figures, all about 6 inches (15 cm) tall. (A rather annoyed kid in a sweet shop, though, to see them all thrown together in a cardboard box with a number of other, cruder carvings and already at risk of having pieces broken off).

They are mostly Swiss and Austrian figures, though the character in the red coat depicts a young Norwegian gentleman. I suspect they are all carved in Bavaria, possibly about 50 years old and full of character. Is that lady in the hat and striped skirt herding geese - or pigs, maybe? and what has Grandpa in the black shirt spotted that is making him smile so much?

They will go on display with the rest of my carved figures for a while, until some of them find a place in one of my miniature houses. Each one cost the equivalent of a couple of pints of beer or a glass of wine - I like both occasionally, but the figures will be here long after the glasses are empty! (Can you smell the whiff of self justification in this post? Feeling guilty? Me? Of course not!)

The Little Things in Life...

In the cold and dark days of winter, I've been playing with miniatures again. The items above are the 'finds' I made last time I visited the Antiques Arcade in Hungerford.

The scene in the little glass case is made of cork - I think it will look very grand in a gentleman's study in one of my bigger houses...and the three little hand-painted pots will join a number of others in the Portuguese House. The glass case is roughly three inches wide, (7.5 cms - that's a UK 50 pence piece in the foreground for comparison) - so you can see that they are not 1/12th scale - the standard scale for most modern miniature houses. But I like to follow the Victorian tradition of collecting items of many different scales and using the houses as repositories for collections of miniatures which have not necessarily been made for 'doll's houses' per se. I think it gives them character - though I know many 'purists' would disagree with me.

Do any other readers have stories of miniatures in their own collections? Which are your favourites? And do any of you have any thoughts on precisely *what is* the appeal of miniaturised items? Because they certainly fascinate me!

Object of Desire

I had some recycling to do today, which I combined with a visit to my favourite antiques shops in Hungerford - a visit to the bright lights indeed, after two days holed up here at home, due to miserable, dark, wet and windy weather - early winter has come to North Hampshire.

As usual I visited the Arcade, which always has something to interest me, but also went across to the new "Emporium" to see what else there may be to tempt me. Quite different, and complimentary in character to the Arcade, the opening of this new gallery of antiques dealers makes it even more worthwhile to visit Hungerford if you have any interest in antiques and curios at all. I can see how one could now quite easily make a whole day visit, particularly if combining it with a visit to Marlborough, just a few miles away - that would even make a good winter weekend break, with plenty of welcoming pubs, log fires and inglenooks to sit beside in the two towns, where you could pore over your treasures while downing a pint and eating good English food.

The owners of the Emporium, who already know of my love of miniatures and dolls houses, led me straight to this beautiful item, which is on sale right now. Santa might deliver it to some very fortunate person in just a month's time - though he might have a bit of a problem getting it down a chimney!

The timber  frame is individually made and infill then applied, plus a very authentic thatched roof and interior, complete with lighting. I was told that a few nights ago, all the other lights in the shop were turned out, and just the dolls house illuminated - so it's not just me that falls so easily under the magic of miniatures!

Further enquiries about the house can be made (no affiliation) by ringing (in the UK) 01488 686959 or sending an email to the-emporium@btconnect.com

Now I'm inspired to go off to play with my own houses - I haven't done that in a while!

Portugal Comes to Me

Since I have to wait a while to flit off to the warmth of Lisbon, I thought I would bring a little of it to me - so for the last couple of weekends, I have been creating a miniature Portuguese holiday cottage
from a carcass I bought at a car boot sale a few years ago for only 2 UK pounds ($4.00). This is what I did........

Firstly, I painted the shell inside and out - the interior with a matt white paint, the exterior with a warm yellow paint mixed with sand, to give a roughened texture.

Tiles - as panels, flooring and whole wall coverings are one of the most individual features of architecture in Portugal, so I had great fun creating these from photographs of actual tiles that I had taken when I was last there. Reduced and replicated in Paint Shop Pro, then printed out on glossy photo paper, they are a fair imitation of the real thing.

Finally I installed mini lighting. This brings a mini interior alive and though it can be a bit fiddly, is well worth the effort.

I've filled the interiors with bits and bobs that I mostly had herealready - several items of very cheap white wire furnishings (perfect for a "Mediterranean" atmosphere), little antique bisque dolls, a tinycarved wooden figure of St Francis of Assisi, hand painted Moroccan
coffee tots that now double as garden planters, lots of little brass pots picked up for pence in jumble sales and charity shops, scraps of delicate antique lace from my own scrap bag of "things that might come in useful".

I've had great fun creating all this and bringing a bit of sunshine to bright but chilly North Hampshire. I hope you enjoy this little tour around my holiday cottage :-)

(Oh, and by the way, if anyone reading would like to swap miniature "bits and pieces", do get in touch - I'd love to hear from you!)