Hepplewhite serving table

This was a very easy piece to make, but I put a lot of effort in the finish. I used fifteen coats of stain (brown mahogany) before I was quite happy, then two coats of varnish. I think it is a magnificent piece. The curves make it look delicate and elegant. The drawer can be opened.

The dining room is now so full that there is no room for another table, but for the time being I have replaced the side table you can see in this post with the cellarette. The side table can be anywhere, but the serving table doubtless belongs in the dining room.

Candle stands

After last weekend's complicated wardrobe I decided to make something simple and chose candlestands. I made a Queen Anne candlestand three years ago, among the very first pieces I made. It is very delicate, and you cannot put much on it except candles. The Chippendale and Hepplewhite stands are more robust.

 

However, the intricate process of gluing on legs at 120 degrees is the same. I am not very good at it.

I will not show step-by-step pictures because they are not very exciting. I wasn't sure whether the pedestals and legs were exactly the same in the two kits, but they were, so I could make all four pieces at the same time. I used four or five coats of  brown mahogany stain on the table surfaces, plus two coats of varnish. Here is the result:

I have tested two of them in rooms, to carry lamps:

And:

I am not quite happy because they are very pretty and you cannot really see them in the background (even when I have removed some objects to take pictures). I would particularly like the octagonal and the serpentine stands to be displayed properly, but haven't decided yet how, so you will have to come back and see.

Hepplewhite cellarette

 How many times have I said that miniature-making is highly educational? Until three weeks ago I didn't know what a cellarette was. If you think logically, a cellarette is a small (wine) cellar so it makes perfect sense. But I had never seen one in full scale. Or maybe I had, but didn't know? I don't think so because I am usually curious about strange objects in museums and ask.

Anyway, a cellarette kit was among my recent purchases, and I couldn't wait to make it. To begin with, it was quite straightforward.

 

Simply a box on top of a table with a drawer and a pull-out shelf.

But then the lid was supposed to be hinged. And I am not very good with hinging. Frankly, I am hopeless with hinges. Of course, one of the very first Chippendale pieces I made had hinges. But at that time I thought that handles and keyholes were more difficult. Now I started to mortice (new word! if you don't know what it means, google it) and realised I would never manage to make it neat and was about to ruin a very beautiful and rare piece. Therefore I stopped morticing and instead used a ribbon, which works just as well.

This is the finished piece. I think it is exceptionally pretty. And when you open it -

 

I will have to make smaller wine bottles to fit into it, but otherwise you see the point, don't you? Such an unusual piece! I will also have to make corkscrews and other implements to put in the tiny drawer. 

Since it is supposed to be movable I have simply placed it in the foreground in the dining room. I may move it to the reception room later.

Chippendale furniture, part 2

I continue the inventory of my Chippendale furniture. I now see from the dates of my blog posts that it took me two years to get more kits.

Links will take you to blog posts where I explain step by step how I made the miniatures. The collectors numbers are from House of Miniatures catalogue.

Chippendale desk on frame, ca 1770 (no 40067, 1981)

 Hepplewhite round table, early 1800s (no 40005) and Hepplewhite corner table, 1780-1800 (no 40061), description here.

 

Chippendale daybed, 1750 (no 40043)

 The previous post also included  Chippendale looking glass, 1750 (no 42403)

And finally, hutch cabinet (no 40003)

 

The wonderful thing about these kits is that they contain very interesting explanations about how, when and where the real pieces were made and how they were used. I have learned a lot from them.

All these pieces are now in Womble Hall. I have just bought two more bundles which will keep me busy throughout 2016. There are only a couple of things I already have. There are many more things to collect. I don't have space for all these objects in Womble Hall, but once you have started collecting... Come back soon.

Chippendale furniture

There has been a lot of interest from my facebook miniature friends in my new Chippendale kits, so I have decided to collect all my Chippendale and Hepplewhite pieces in one blog post, with links to how I made them. From the dates I see that I made the first one exactly three years ago, on January 1, 2013. The first kit was a Christmas present from my daughter, and then I wanted to know more about this collection, and I got totally hooked. At this site you can find a complete catalogue of all items, produced in 1970s-80s and discontinued. You can get some newly manufactured copies from Minimundus.

 I have been lucky to find several bargains on ebay, of 10 to 15 pieces. Shipping from the USA is expensive, but if you buy a large bundle it's reasonable. So far I have only got two duplicates.

Here are pictures of my completed pieces, with links to blog posts about how I made them, step by step.

My very first piece, closed cabinet top, late 1700s (no 40001, 1976) 

I soon made a desk to put it on (no 40017)

Queen Anne candle stand, 1725-1760 (no 40013, 1977)

Chippendale canopy bed, 1750-1790 (no 40014, 1977), part 1,  part 2 and part 3.
 

Chippendale night stand, 1750-90 (no 40012, 1977)

Hepplewhite three-piece table, early 1800s (no 4006, 1977)

Chippendale 3-drawer chest (no 40011)

Chippendale cabriole legs chairs (no 40027), the only item I bought from Minimundus.

Chippendale chest on chest (no 40009)

Chippendale sofa (no 40015)

Chippendale wing chair (no 40016)

This was the first batch I made so I'll stop for now, but will show more soon. All this furniture used to be in a house that I used specifically to display it and that I gave away when the furniture moved to Womble Hall.

To be continued.

More Hepplewhite tables

Inspired by the success of my Chippendale desk, I decided to make some more pieces. I made a beautiful Hepplewhite dining table a while ago so this time it felt less intimidating. These two lovely tables were quite straightforward to make.

 

The round table is not particularly remarkable, but what I did with it was stain the surface repeatedly - about ten coats - to make it really dark. The introduction says these tables were often made with different kinds of wood, but I wasn't sure how it would work and couldn't afford to make mistakes.

The table is preliminarily placed in the music room.

 

I will probably serve fruit on it. The problem with tables is that, on the one hand, it's natural to have a table cloth, but on the other hand, I want the surface to be visible.

Another problem is that with this delicate table, the chairs that I have now feel far too crude. I don't remember where these chairs come from, but they have been around for a long time.

 

I have a chair that fits better; maybe it even is a Hepplewhite chair or very similar, but I guess I will have to buy a couple more.

 

The corner table is a very interesting and rare piece. This is the first and only time I have seen it on ebay. It is slightly higher than a regular table, and the introduction suggests that it was used as a serving table or maybe a wash stand. If the manufacturers don't know, how would I know? I will use it as a decorative table in the grand hall. It has a pretty marble top, and I will put some ornament on it.

 

The floor in the grand hall is not finished, and the stair rail is still white-tacked. I start feeling I would like to move on, but I need to complete some other things first. 

Hepplewhite table

The piece I had thought would be very difficult actually turned out to be quite straitforward. In Russian, this type of table is called "a centepede", for obvious reasons.

As usual, I started by sorting the pieces on the layout sheet. The instruction says: "Be certain you understand each step before proceeding to the next one". It may sound patronising, but is very helpful. This is my third piece in the collection, and by now I have understood several important principles. Step-by-step and let-dry-before-going-on are essential.

Alignment is something I have learned by now. It is not just helpful, but also makes me contemplate how these things are done in 1:1 scale. Which is what makes this kit-building exciting and new as compared to anything I have done before. Even furniture I have made after instructions from dollhouse books was cheating. You covered everything that wasn't done properly. As you see, I started with the two end sections. I have made half-moon side tables from cheese boxes, but I never reflected that there are two boards on top of each other. This will be useful if I ever make a table of my own.

The middle section also has two layers. Now you would think that for a miniature, you could just take one big table top, but that's not how they made table tops in full scale. It's three pieces that have to be assembled.

As usual, masking tape is indispensable. 

This is what the table top looked like when it had dried.

Then it was time to glue on the legs. Fourteen of them. If you wonder why there is a square of white card, it is not accidental. It is the alignment square, used to make sure that the table legs are straight. I wish I had known this simple trick before.

This definitely looks like a dead centipede.

This is what it looked like 24 hours later, when I also had given it a coat of varnish. You cannot help noticing that it is now in a room. The floor is probably wrong for the period, and also perhaps too conspicuous. It's still at an early planning stage, but it looks so much better in a room.

The smart thing about the Hepplewhite table is that it can also be used in various configurations: as a dining table or as a round table. 

This piece was a huge fun to make, and it gave me a lot of confidence.