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

The Buckalters: A Mini Love Affair

Jerry and Claire Buckalter of Suffern, New York had a decades long marriage filled with love. They also had a shared love and passion for fine scale miniatures. Their devotion is reflected in the extensive collection of beautiful miniatures they worked together to curate. I'm happy to have helped find happy homes for their treasures in my Fall 2o21 auction on September 19 on Invaluable.com.

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. The love they shared for each other, combined with their love of miniatures helped assemble a beautiful collection of exquisite tiny treasures.

Some of the pieces in their collection included a tufted leather chair and ottoman by Lynn Whisenant, a double bass by Ken Manning, a Georgian secretary by Neil Bateson and hand painted picture by Paul Saltarelli.

Both husband and wife spent their professional lives working in education; Claire was a schoolteacher, and Jerry was principal in a high school in suburban New York, just north of New York City, where they lived for many years.

It was during the late 1990s and early 2000s, during their well-deserved retirement, that they became entrenched in the miniatures world and focused on building their collection.

As a couple, they took classes in miniature-making and honed a broad range of skills enabling them to create flowers, furniture, works of needlepoint, and roomboxes. They also developed a keen eye for twelfth scale miniatures, navigating the show circuit, meeting artisans, making purchases and commissioning works. They built strong relationships with many artists and their collection grew to become filled with extraordinary miniatures made by some of the most talented names in the miniatures universe.

I am pleased to present here just a few of their treasures: a hand-carved Georgian II burl wood secretary (c1740) complete with a double-bonnet cornice by Neil Bateson, a set of French Rosewood furniture inspired by Andre Charles Boulle, decorated with ebony veneers and intricate brass fretwork by Geoff Wonnacott and a limited-edition sterling silver and crystal epergene by Pete Acquisto.

Other artisan-signed pieces from The Buckalter Estate include a leather top hardwood rent table by Michael Walton, a Victorian birdcage by David Krupick, a painted fireplace screen by Natasha Beshencovsky, porcelain by Debra Welsh and Lee Ann Chellis Wessel, a Chippendale sideboard by Ferd Sobel, framed paintings by Paul Saltarelli, 1/144 scale roombox by Nell Corkin and a tufted leather comfy chair by Lynn Whisenant.

Every piece collected by the Buckalters is an expression of love and passion along with a story to tell. We can only imagine Jerry and Claire’s exciting conversations as they discovered once-in-a-lifetime treasured miniatures and made them a part of their collection.

I am privileged to help find happy homes for the collection and to give each piece, the artists and, importantly, the Buckalters, the consideration and recognition they deserve.

Every great love story should have a happy ending and inspire future great loves, especially when miniatures are involved!

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

#LiveYourBestMiniLife