Rare Behind the Scenes Look: The Thorne Rooms at Knoxville Museum of Art

D. Thomas Fine Miniatures is excited to announce a very special livestream event from the Knoxville Museum of Art in Knoxville, Tennessee on Sunday, December 5 at 4pm ET when viewers will be taken on a virtual tour of the museum's collection of Thorne Rooms decorated for the holiday season along with a rare glimpse of the inner workings of the gallery which houses the collection and a close up view of the miniature rooms.

Several rooms have been decorated for the holidays!

Collector, maker and miniatures enthusiast, Jolie Gaston, has been decorating the rooms for several years now and will treat viewers to a look at the famed rooms inside the gallery created specifically for the rooms at the museum. We'll learn all about the history behind these extraordinary miniatures created by Narcissa Niblack Thorne originally exhibited at the Worlds Fair in New York City in 1939.

Viewers will also get a rare behind the scenes look at the space located behind the gallery walls that houses the built-in structures for a look at the inner workings of the rooms and an even more rare close up look at the tiny objects occupying these iconic miniature rooms.

Mrs. James Ward Thorne (Vincennes, Indiana 1882-1966 Chicago)

Thorne Miniature Rooms

Knoxville Museum of Art, 1962 gift of the IBM Corporation

This will be super! Register here to join the livestream:

Miss the event live? Watch the replay and all of the previous Meet the Miniaturist livestreams here.

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Until Next Time Thank you for being a part

of the D. Thomas Miniatures Community!

#LiveYourBestMiniLife

Walt Disney: The Miniaturist!

Who knew... Walt Disney was a miniaturist!

We were recently treated to special Meet the Miniaturist livestream and joined by Chris Mullen, the Senior Marketing & Communications Coordinator from The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco for a talk about Walt Disney and his passion for miniatures. Chris is a storyteller, content creator and an important part of the Guest Experience team at the museum.

Chris joined the livestream from the miniatures gallery at the museum and shared stories about Walt Disney and how his interest in miniatures influenced the remarkable body of work he created which made him a true American legend.

We saw photos of Disney's miniatures and talked about Disneylandia, the early concept of what will later become the iconic DisneyLand, influenced heavily by Walt's interest in miniatures.

Walt's assortment of miniatures includes a collection of readable volumes by Shakespeare, tiny bottles of liquor and a tiny bed he created for his daughter fastened using one of the dress from one of her dolls.

Walt Disney's passion for miniatures started when he first saw The Thorne Rooms, a series of room boxes created by Narcissa Niblack Thorne, now in the collection at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Walt created a series of pot belly stoves in miniature which he then sold anonymously to an antique store in New York City and the story goes that Narcissa Thorne herself was shopping and purchased one of his little stoves!

Other items in his collection includes these tiny painted plates.

A portion of Walt Disney's collection of miniatures, including the tiny bed he made for his daughter is headed for the Metropolitan Musuem of Art in New York City for the upcoming show "Inspiring Walk Disney The Animation of French Decorative Arts opening December 10, 2021 through March 2022.

Watch the replay from the Meet the Miniaturist: Museum Edition, live streamed from the Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio in San Francisco, California.

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Until Next Time Thank you for being a part

of the D. Thomas Miniatures Community!

#LiveYourBestMiniLife

The Buckalter Estate Auction Announced!

D.Thomas Fine Miniatures is excited to announce an extraordinary estate sale featuring treasures from the collection of Jerry and Clair Buckalter of Suffern, New York. The love this couple had for each other is only matched by their passion and shared interest in collecting fine art dollhouse miniatures, which they did together after retiring from careers in education. The auction is scheduled for Sunday September 19 at 10am EST on Invaluable.com - bidders can register to join here on Invaluable.com. The catalogue is currently live and bidding is currently underway!

The Buckalter dollhouse miniatures collection consists of an extraordinary assortment of fine art miniatures crafted by more than 45 IGMA Artisans and Fellows of the Guild (A/F) and some of the most iconic and celebrated miniaturists in the world including Geoff Wonnacott (A), Neil Bateson, David Kuprick, Linda LaRoche (F), Natasha Beshencovsky (A), Ferd Sobel (F), Ken Manning (F), Phyllis Tucker (F), Michael Walton (A), Shirley Wentworth (F), Pete Acquisto (F), Harry Smith, Jens Thorpe, Paul Saltarelli (A), Johannes Landman (A), Karen Markland (F), Roger Gutheil (F), Randall Zadar (A), Barbara Raheb (F), James Hastrich (A), Nell Corkin (F), John Davenport (F), Sandra Henry Wall (F), Vince Stapleton, Phyllis Sirota (F), Jane Graber (A), Lee Ann Chellis Wessel (F), Rainbow Hand, Joseph Lonewolf, Hope Elliott (F), Teresa and Jean Welch and Mary McGrath (F).

Auctioneer, Darren T. Scala says “I’m absolutely thrilled to be taking care of The Buckalter Estate and ushering in new homes for the tiny treasures that this couple lovingly amassed. It was a mini love affair for them in life as it was for their shared passion for miniatures, which they worked on together. They would take classes; he would create the roombox and she would commission artists to craft pieces for the rooms. Each had their separate roles but joined together in a wonderful way to create an exceptional collection.”

The Collection covers a broad range of miniatures categories including framed paintings and portraiture, period furniture, flower arrangements, art dolls, lighting, foods, silver, pottery, glass, wicker, sculpture, porcelain, carpets, toys, native American Indian and indigenous dolls and artifacts, roomboxes and more. A few features of the collection includes an extraordinary George II (c1740) pull down secretary by Neil Bateson (England 2001) in 1/12 scale which is crafted of burl wood and consisting of multiple dovetailed drawers and slots with hidden compartments, a 1/144 scale Victorian framed roombox by Nell Corkin, a 2-piece tufted leather comfy chair and ottoman by Lynn Whisenant and a 50-piece set of colonial-style pottery by Jane Graber.

Darren goes on to say, “It’s rare for so many fine scaled miniatures in such great condition by so many fine artisans to become available at the same time. I think collectors will enjoy seeing and acquiring some of the pieces that they may have wanted for a long time.”

The Buckalters traveled to shows, collaborated on projects, and even crafted their own miniatures which they lovingly placed in room boxes and mini scenes throughout their home. Some of their roomboxes are offered for sale in this auction. The love they shared for each other, combined with their love of miniatures helped assemble a beautiful collection of exquisite tiny treasures.

Bidders can register here and start bidding now on Invaluable.com. This online auction will take place on Sunday, September 19, 2021 at 10am ET and expected to end around 2pm ET after almost 200 lots have been sold.

More about the Buckalters can be found in this feature in the September issue of DollsHouse and Miniature Scene Magazine:

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Until Next Time Thank you for being a part of the D. Thomas Miniatures Community!

#LiveYourBestMiniLife