Tynietoy at Philbrook Museum of Art

I was honored to have my TynieToy collection selected to be on exhibit at the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  The exhibit is called "Tulsa Treasures: Private Collections in Public"  The exhibit runs from March 15th - May 24th 2020

To see my Tynietoy collection click HERE  or you can click on the Tynietoy label.

George LeClerc Seating

I was recently able to acquire some rare original George LeClerc chairs and a bench from a collector in Massachusetts.   

George LeClerc worked for the Tynietoy Company in the 1920's - 1930's. 

All of the pieces have upholstered seats and are 1:12 scale.  The collector told me that Leclerc's wife did the uphlostery on these pieces.

LeClerc pieces are typically more detailed than the regular TynieToy pieces.  These pieces are made from mahogany and are finished with black paper on the bottom.

To see the rest of my TynieToy collection click HERE

Recent Acquisitions - Club Garage Sale

I have not had a lot of time to work on miniatures much lately, but I have picked up a few items here and there.  The Tulsa Miniature Club had a garage sale that we opened up regionally to the Oklahoma City and Arkansas miniature clubs.  I sold a few items, traded a few and of course purchased some. 

Items from the garage sale included the marble topped table (upper left) the pressed metal Singer sewing machine ( upper right) vintage wire shelf units, the silver candle holder with frame, and the stained oak double pedestal table.  I have purchased the Petite Princess end table, lamp and brass planter on Ebay.  I picked up the brass candle holder, and the metal boxes at estate sales.  The Chippendale chairs were on Ebay and are part of the Take-A-Seat Collection.  I found the antique cast iron Kent stove at an antique shop in Utah. 

 The stained oak double pedestal table was in pieces in a zip-lock bag and was a fun mini-project.

 To see the rest of my Willets take-a-seat collection, click HERE  The table has real marble top and is signed and dated on the bottom (1997) The chairs are resin.

The Kent cast iron stove is from the 1920's-1930's.  It has been painted a few times so I will probably strip it and restore the original colors (blue and silver)

I was intrigued by this singer sewing machine.  I have not seen a pressed metal one like it before.  If anyone has any info, I'd love to hear from you.  I plan on putting it in my Tynietoy house in the pink bedroom.

I liked the retro look of the wire shelves and will most likely keep them with my Petite Princess collection. The table, lamp, basket and planter are Petite Princess.  You can read more about Petite Princess Fantasy Furniture in my latest article in Dollhouse Miniatures.

Lastly, I came across this leather Moroccan wallet at an estate sale.  It is similar to the Moroccan book cover that I found not too long ago.  I think that I will use it as a rug with my green bedroom furniture in my Philco Radio House.

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TynieToy Nursery Update

I added some bedding and experimented with adding a canopy to the nursery crib.  I wanted to keep a 1920's - 1930's era feel for all of the items in this house

I'm not totally happy with the outcome, but it will do for now.

 I used some layers of foam core for the bed mattress and the support the bed skirt.

I found some pleated lace and used hot glue to attach the lace to the skirt

 

Here is a photo of the skirt attached to the crib

I like to look for antique handkerchiefs and doilies at estate sales to use on projects just like this.  I may use part of it to make a scarf for the dresser and fireplace as well.

I used a corner of this handkerchief for the bedding.  I was pretty happy with the result

I looked all around town for a crown to use for a canopy.  The closest thing I found was a Christmas ornament, which was too large. 

 

I ended up using a paper cup.  I cut away the top and part of the sides.

I used hot glue to hold it in place and added some textural elements, beads, a small plastic cherub, a bottle cap, and a small Christmas ornament.  I may need to scale down the beads..

I painted it white.  I decided to attach it a tall piece of cardboard instead of hanging it on the wall or ceiling.  I also found a stork image to use as a small mural.

I also found some ribbon that reminded me of the flowers on TynieToy and incorporated that.

I have been looking for artwork for the nursery walls.  

These are the pieces that I have found so far.  The frames are from the scrapbook section of the local hobby store.

The tall poster is contains several Mother Goose images, "a cow jumping over the moon," "the dish that ran away with the spoon," and "the cat and the fiddle."  The square image is from "Rock A Bye Baby on the tree top" and the oval image is a stork delivering a baby.

Nothing set in stone yet, but a little progress.

TynieToy Nursery Update

I was able to get a second coat of blue paint on the antique unfinished furniture and paint the TynieToy style accents onto each piece.  Fortunately, there are several photos of TynieToy pieces online and I have quite a few pieces of furniture so I had good reference material.  I practiced on some pieces of cardboard before I attempted to paint on the actual furniture in the TynieToy style.

Each piece of TynieToy furniture was hand painted, mostly by students of the Rhode Island School of design which was across the street from the Handicraft Club where the company started in 1920.  I was able to appreciate my TynieToy collection even more after going through this process.  

Above are some of the reference pictures that I found online.

Here was an in-progress shot of the gold pin stripes (no flowers yet)

Here are some roses and greenery added

Here is the children's chair with the children's table ( The table is an original piece from the factory)

The crib with my artwork in TynieToy style

rocking chair from the factory

The high-chair with my artwork in TynieToy style

Children's folding screen with my artwork in TynieToy style

Children's dresser with my artwork in TynieToy style.  I need to add some drawer pulls.

This was a an extra telephone table that I decided to paint to match.  I have seen these used as end tables in other scenes.

Here is a photo of the nursery items so far.  I may or may not use the yellow rush seat rocker in this room.  The rug is an original TynieToy.

I need to add some accessories, some artwork and some bedding.  These are the original colors of the house.  The curtains are original to the house as well.  I was surprised at how well they work.  The house dates from around 1920.

To see my first post about this furniture, click HERE

To see my TynieToy collection click HERE

A TynieToy Nursery

A baby on the way to Crescent Moon Cottage !

I have been collecting TynieToy items for the nursery in the Crescent Moon Cottage.

TynieToy was started in the 1920's and continued until the late 1940's. When the owners died in 1940 and 1947 the remaining inventory and attic stock was sold. The unsold items, in varying states of production from finished to unfinished were put away in storage. These were then sold at auction in the 1980s, and were purchased by the owners of a museum in California where they remained in boxes unit recently when they were put up for sale and are now available.

I have purchased a few of the unfinished nursery items.

I have also purchased a few finished nursery pieces. 

The rocker and child's table show below.

This week I have been  painting the unfinished pieces to match the finished ones.  I brought a finished piece to the paint store and had it color matched.

More to come!

To see my other TynieToy pieces, click HERE or click on the TynieToy label.

To see the Crescent Moon Cottage where my TynieToy collection resides, click HERE