Curiosities

Je suis l'heureuse gagnante d'un giveaway organisé par Tony de Miniature Treasures. J'ai remporté une pièce, qui n'est pas vraiment une miniature - quand même presque 8 cm de haut - mais que j'ai bien l'intention d'intégrer dans mon monde miniature. C'est un petit flacon de parfum avec sa boîte ouvragée.

I am the lucky winner of a giveaway hosted by Tony from Miniature Treasures. I won a beautiful piece which is not really a miniature - almost 8 cm high - but I'm planning to incorporate it into my miniature world. It is an antique small perfume bottle with its adorned box.

Il s'agit en fait d'un reliquaire, de l'époque médiévale, contenant quelques ossements de Sainte Barbe. Dans l'iconographie du Moyen Age, l'attribut de la sainte est une tour à 3 fenêtres. Je trouve que la forme correspond bien à la tour. J'ai ajouté les ossements dans le flacon. Et en ce qui concerne les fenêtres il va falloir les imaginer. Peut-être dans le trou de la serrure !
Tony a aussi eu la gentillesse d'ajouter à l'envoi quelques unes de ses trouvailles. Il ne me reste plus qu'à exposer tout cela dans le Cabinet, ce qui nécessite quelques réaménagements. J'en profite pour ajouter quelques objets qui étaient encore dans les cartons.

This is actually a reliquary from medieval times, containing some bones of St. Barbara. In the traditional iconography, the attribute of the saint is a tower with three windows. The shape is really one of a tower. I added the bones in the bottle. And regarding the three windows you will have to imagine them. Perhaps the keyhole!
Tony was also kind enough to add some of his findings to the shipment. It remains for me to find some good places for them in the Cabinet, which requires some adjustments. I also want to add some items that were still in boxes.

 

J'ai construit une étagère dans le fond de la pièce pour recevoir quelques trésors. Il y a encore de la place mais il faut encore aménager des socles et des présentoirs.
Au centre, le reliquaire de Sainte Barbe.

I built shelves in the back of the room to exhibit my treasures. There are still empty places but I have to build more pedestals and displays.
In the center, the reliquary of St. Barbara.

     

Une petite collection de céladons coréens et de  céladons pâles craquelés chinois par Elisabeth Causeret.  Le bateau est de Andrew Pearce - Newtonwood Miniatures. Et le petit reliquaire sous globe contient un fragment d'os ayant appartenu à Sainte Catherine, présenté dans la couronne des martyres.

A small collection of Korean celadon and white cracked chinese celadon ceramics by Elisabeth Causeret. The boat is by Andrew Pearce - Newtonwood Miniatures. And the small reliquary under a globe contains a fragment of bone that belonged to St. Catherine, it is presented with the crown of martyrdom.

Une collection de pierres rares et précieuses. La rhodocrosite d'Argentine est la pierre rose. A droite, le cristal bleu est un zircon du Brésil.  Les cristaux de bismuth produits en laboratoire  ne devaient pas être disponibles au début du XXème siècle, c'est ce qui en fait une curiosité ! Les cristaux bleus, à gauche, je ne sais plus. J'avais noté le nom et j'ai perdu le papier, mais cela a une jolie couleur.
Le cabochon,  offert par Tony, est, selon lui, une pièce de harnachement. Il a certainement raison, mais j'y vois un fragment architectural.

A collection of rare and precious stones. The rhodochrosite from Argentina is the pink stone. To the right, a blue zircon crystal from Brazil. The bismuth crystals, artificially produced in laboratory, should not have been available in the early twentieth century, making it a curiosity! The blue crystals, left, I don't know. Í have lost the paper with the name, but they have a nice colour.
The roman lead mount, offered by Tony, would, according to him, have been attached to a horses leatherwork. He is certainly right, but I see an architectural fragment there.

 

Le cabinet tout dépoussiéré, avec la nouvelle étagère et quelques nouvelles curiosités.

The Cabinet all dusted with the new curiosities on the shelves.

 

Un petit globe terrestre portatif dans sa boîte - de Truly Scrumptious, à côté d'une pile de documents de Jennifer Osmond - Looking glass  Miniatures,  avec un presse-papier en verre de Vitreus Ignis, comme le dragon.

A small portable Terrestrial Globe in its box - by Truly Scrumptious, next to a stack of documents by  Jennifer Osmond - Looking glass miniatures, with a glass clipboard by Vitreus Ignis just as the dragon next to it.

 

Et finalement un autre dragon, en bronze, de Simon Walker - Art Forge. La photo n'est pas bonne, vous le reverrez plus clairement lorsque j'aurai ajouté les documents sur l'étude des dragons. 

 

And finally another dragon, a bronze one, made by Simon Walker - Art Forge. The picture is not very good, you will see it more clearly later when I will have added documents about dragons.

 

A dragon in my cabinet

Merci pour tous vos sympatiques commentaires concernant la maison Art Nouveau, intérieur et extérieur.

Ces derniers temps, il n'y a pas eu de grand changement dans le Cabinet de Curiosités, mais j'ajoute régulièrement de nouveaux objets.

J'ai callé  ma momie royale égyptienne dans un coin, près d'une statue d'Anubis sortie tout droit de la tombe de Toutankhamon. Ma plus belle acquisition récente est un petit dragon chinois, d'une incroyable précision, fait en verre de Murano par Vitreus Ignis.

 

Thank you for all your kind comments about the living room and the outside of the Art Nouveau house. Recently, I didn't make big changes in the Cabinet of Curiosities. I'm always searching for outstanding antiques to add in  the setting.

That's the actual look of the Cabinet, with my Royal Egyptian Mummy standing in the corner, near a statue of Anubis just taken from the tomb of Tutankhamun.

I'm very happy with this little one : a perfect Chinese dragon. Believe it or not, it's made of Murano glass by Vitreus Ignis. It looks like ivory...and it's milky white glass.

 

I also added some precious stones and shells to the collection, of  which an ammonite fossil, gift from a nice French miniaturist.

 

J'ai aussi ajouté quelques pierres et coquillages précieux et un fossile d'ammonite qui m'a été offert par une sympathique miniaturiste française.

 

 

The shelves are now filled with bones and stones, books and glasses.

I still have place for new discoveries....

 

Entre les pierres, les coquillages, les livres et les verreries il reste encore de la place pour de nouvelles découvertes.

 

 

 

Little additions before the great migration.

Moving dollhouses and miniatures is worse than moving 1/1 furniture. Some of you are in the same situation, and for me it's not the first experience, but it takes so much time to pack all the little curiosities of "The Cabinet"....
I can't resist to add some little objects before they get wrapped in bubbles and boxes, even if this doesn't help the efficiency of the packing process.

 

During the KDF I bought two birds from Tiny Tails Miniatures  to finish  some display under globe. Actually I made two, one with the birds and one with real shells and a sand rose, decorated with fake coral.

I'm really happy with the colours in the globe, they match perfectly those of the cabinet.

 

Je commence à empaqueter les miniatures du "Cabinet de Curiosités". Ce n'est pas très rapide et, comme je retrouve de petites choses en attente, je fais encore quelques dioramas sous globe...côté efficacité, je ne suis pas sur la bonne voie. Des oiseaux de Tiny Tails Miniatures, une rose des sables et des coquillages, du faux corail....Je suis assez contente du résultat. Il ne reste plus qu'à les emballer !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New curiosities

I came back this Sunday from the new City of London Dollshouse Festival with some new findings.
Today I'll show you the pieces I bought for my Curiosities Cabinet.

 





Once more, Cilla Albert, from Minst.com, has made just the right thing for my cabinet. I already had two coral pieces, and now I have the shells under globe. I had to change the shape of the shelves and add a nice curve to be able to put the three items together. On the picture, one of the corals is almost hidden. I'm a poor photographer !

 

On the lower shelve, I have two new curiosities : a shell fossil and a dinosaur spine. The latter is in fact a part of a squirrel spinal column, but nobody knows it. That was a gift from my daughter. I've made the setting this morning.

 

 

 

I also got the perfect armchair for my cabinet. The original is the Swan chair designed by Charles Voysey, an English architect and furniture designer. His work was influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement and the Art Nouveau. His famous Swan chair was designed between 1883 and 1885. The tiny one in my Cabinet is the work of Small-time miniatures. A master piece !

 

 

Here's a new picture of the whole cabinet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A dinosaur in my Cabinet

A small dinosaur of undetermined species and unknown era took place in the Cabinet. The skull comes from secret excavations under my dollhouse. I built the display box for the monster. That box was easy to make, because it wasn't Godzilla-sized, just tiny bat-sized.

I also added some shells in the display table

And found a new home for my naturalised seahorse.

Evolution

In Manhattan, there is a very interesting store for anyone looking for curiosities, oddities, taxidermy, natural history...

Even if you make miniatures you can find something there. I came back with new pieces for my Cabinet of Curiosities. Here are the first pieces for my mini cabinet...the others- I still have to make them- are not ready.

Tiny coloured shells, a fossil ammonite, a fossil sea urchin and at the bottom some extrasmall rock crystals.

Also a really tiny seahorse and a starfish. I have added my miniature magnifying glass to give you the size. The skull was carved in a bone in Indonesia.

You can use the magnifier to see my last find, that's really the best one : fossil amber from the Baltic with a mosquito or something trapped inside. I will play "Jurassic Park". Next time I'll show you my dinosaurs !