Making Miniature Period Furniture for Dolls' Houses (eBook)

INTRODUCTION

This book is aimed at collectors of 1:12 scale miniatures and artisans with a basic understanding of miniatures and miniature making. It also provides tips and techniques for producing miniatures that look like antiques without the need to be an expert in crafts such as carpentry, carving, engraving or leather working, or buying expensive pieces of kit and materials. This book will also direct miniaturists old and new towards some of the more advanced skills and techniques.

There are twelve projects to explore in this book. Ten of the projects come with their own plan and instructions for the reader to follow; the other two are freer ‘inspiration’ projects that focus on repurposing a particular object, and come with instructions and suggestions that can be adapted as required.

More advanced miniature makers can simply incorporate some of their own techniques and skills when tackling the projects in this book. Hopefully, they too will find some interesting new ideas and tips to add to their current knowledge base.

GETTING YOUR MINIATURIST JOURNEY STARTED

Miniatures surround us all in our daily lives in some shape or form, for example in the toys you give your children or the holiday decorations that go on your Christmas tree. Many of us will have worn jewellery or owned keyrings that incorporate a miniature of something important to us. Five thousand years ago, the ancient Egyptians were making miniatures of loved ones, servants and possessions to take with them to the afterlife, while in war rooms throughout history, miniature battlefields have been used to plan and deploy manoeuvres against the enemy. They are often invaluable in film and TV – think of the opening credits of Game of Thrones, or the scenes from Gladiator with the beautiful little effigies of Maximus’s wife and child.

Dolls’ houses and dolls’ house furniture also offer a way of escaping into another world (albeit a smaller one) that resembles our own but offers so many avenues to explore, including history and design. Miniatures can depict any period from Roman and Tudor to Victorian to the 1960s. This book will show you how to give free rein to your own artistic expression in creating a little world that is all your own. Where else can you have a castle within a manor house within a house, or an actual rocket in your pocket?

The twelve projects in this book (fitting, as you are exploring 1:12 scale) provide an introduction to the world of 1:12 scale miniatures. Be it handmade, scratch built and/or repurposed dolls’ houses and miniatures that piqued your interest, I hope you will leave this book with new ideas with how to bring your creative concepts to fruition.

The projects are mainly wood based, because it is easily obtainable, versatile and forgiving – make a mistake and you can easily rub it down or turn it into something else. Many of the methods shown in this book can however be used with other materials.

All these projects are intended for competent adults or young people with strict adult supervision only. All tools and materials should be used following the manufacturer’s safety guidelines, and all the pieces you can make are collector’s pieces (not toys) and are not suitable for children or pets.

MOVING FORWARD

You do not need to be a certified historian or a trained woodworker to make historical pieces. Part of the joy of making antique-style miniatures is learning their place in history and the techniques used along the way. Do not be afraid to think outside the box and add your own touches: after all, that is how any art thrives – there are no set rules, just some basic guidelines on how to get started.

It is not the aim of this book to show you how to do perfect carvings, lathing, pyrography (writing with fire) and so on; as Marilyn Monroe once said, ‘imperfection is beauty’. Here you will be given the basic principles and some simple designs that you can make and develop into more complex pieces should you choose to do so, with more complex techniques, tools and skills that you may have already or will learn on your miniature journey – for example carving, or using the lathe for pillars and columns.

We will talk about which tools you need to get started and which tools you may wish to purchase as your skills progress, such as a lathe or pyrography machines. Always start with lower-priced options so that you can decide if you wish to develop your skills in a specific area first, and only invest in more expensive kit when you’re happy that is the direction you want to go in.

This book starts by showing you some simple methods and materials that you can use to give your furniture/interior pieces that aged appearance that can give your work the look and feel of an antique piece. You will be given an insight into how to finish not only dolls’ house furniture pieces but larger projects such as room boxes and dolls’ houses just like the one shown here, which was made in 2008 but is often mistaken for a Georgian or Victorian piece – which is exactly the result I was aiming for. When someone asks you about the provenance of your piece, you know you are on the right track.

SOURCES OF INSPIRATION

If you were fortunate enough as a child to have visited places such as Windsor Castle and the Tower of London, you may still remember the sense of wonder they evoked – and that feeling does not fade for adults. These buildings have captured the essence of past inhabitants and seem in their energy to want to share the secrets held within their walls, often made more powerful by the wonderfully preserved interior decorations and furniture (showing craftmanship of old) held within them.

For historical context, the focus of this book is mainly on the UK, which has a rich and diverse mix of wonderfully maintained historical sites and buildings. There are many houses, castles and sites throughout the country that will give you an enchanting fly-on-the-wall perspective of amazing interiors, furniture and way of life in times gone by. You can whip out your phone to take photographs or do a quick sketch at these sites as a reference point for pieces you may wish to make in the future. Attached gift shops will also often have picture postcards, books and novelties that make useful reference points for future projects.

One place that will be of huge inspiration for your future miniature furniture pieces is Hever Castle, family home of the Boleyn family. Each room in this beautiful castle is full of wonderful pieces of furniture and architecture that cannot help but get the creative juices flowing. The Waldegrave Room alone has multiple pieces of Tudor furniture, including a four-poster bed, blanket box, chairs and cabinet as well as a lovely fireplace and panel work. A huge bonus for miniature-lovers and artisans alike is that the castle also houses a collection of 1:12 scale miniature model houses from the late master English miniaturist furniture maker John J. Hodgson.

Bowood House is an absolute must-visit for eighteenth-century furniture inspiration, with its beautiful interiors by Robert Adam, the British neoclassical architect and interior designer. It is a grand house with beautiful gardens, but manages to be welcoming rather than overwhelming. The libraries and many beautiful bookcases in this house have given many a miniature maker a starting point for their projects.

At St Fagans National Museum of History in Cardiff, there are more than 40 original buildings re-erected in the grounds from different historical periods, including a farm, a school and a sixteenth-century manor house complete with beautiful furniture and interiors.

Not in the UK, but well worth visiting if you have the opportunity, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam holds some magnificent pieces of art as well as miniatures and historical pieces of furniture, including the Petronella Oortman dolls’ house, famous for its exact proportions and use of authentic materials.

In fact, being able to visit historical sites online (often even with a 360-degree tour) is one of the benefits of the internet for the model maker; for example, you can see Windsor Castle or take a look at the fourteenth-century tithe barn in Pilton (no furniture here but stunning beamed ceiling work), or indeed the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, without leaving the comfort of your own home. The National Trust is just one of the sites that offers you a huge database of historical buildings across the UK that you can explore online. Wikipedia is also great for a more detailed description of historical sites, and...