Smithsonian Museum to Offer Miniatures Exhibit

September 22, 2017September 8, 2017Leave a comment

Ariel O’Connor, an objects conservator for the Smithsonian American Art Museum, looks into the “Three Room Dwelling” Nutshell crime diorama. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

The Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. is refurbishing dollhouse death scenes that were used for forensic science.

The exhibition, “Murder Is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death,” will be on display from Oct. 20 to Jan. 28, 2018. Visitors will be given flashlights and magnifying glasses to inspect the 19 dioramas.

More info about the restoration process and the exhibition.

This information is offered as a service to the community of miniature enthusiasts. If you know of a miniature related event or have information/photos to share, please contact the N.A.M.E. N2 Region Webmaster.

Smallsea Collection Online Auction

April 28, 2017May 25, 2017Leave a comment

The Smallsea Collection auction will be an online auction hosted by Alderfer Auctions in association with Eileen Rhoads. It will run from July 8 to July 22.

The Smallsea Museum Collection was amassed over the last 25 years. It includes dollhouse shops and town structures, furniture, accessories, dollhouse dolls, and other 1:12 scale miniatures created by hundreds of international artists both from the present and years gone by.

The auction will include:

1,000 pieces of furniture and accessories including items for shops, a church, a newspaper, funeral parlor, and many more
40 custom buildings- many featured over the last 20 years in major dollhouse and miniature magazines, websites, and newspapers
500 dollhouse dolls- many custom made for Smallsea
25+ automobiles and trucks, custom-made horse-drawn wagons and coaches, peddler carts, and specialty street-vendor displays
Smallsea Circus, Summer Fair and Town Hall Christmas amusement and concession stalls, market vendor stalls and carts, an ice skating rink, skate shop and Christmas Emporium and market stall.

Photos, auction info and registration is available online.

Smallsea Museum Auction

A New Miniature Film

April 21, 2017April 26, 2017Leave a comment

Joanne Martin, President of the Miniature Museum of Greater St. Louis, is the subject of a new film, “Joanne Martin: A Life in Miniature”. The film is in the final stages of development before being submitted to film festivals in the latter half of 2017 and 2018.

The film is being directed by Joanne’s niece, Stephanie Lewis. Stephanie hopes that the film will be a catalyst to excite interest in the world of miniature-making. It’s also a special film about a special woman. Here is the trailer.

Visiting the Christmas House in Novato, CA

December 14, 2016Leave a comment

Photos: marinmommies.com

Edmundo Rombeiro and his family have been putting together this Christmas house to for the past 24 years, and every year it gets bigger.

There are about 140,000 lights as well as countless figurines, dioramas, and decorations adorning the front and side yards, walls, and roof of the Rombeiro house. Apparently they start setting the whole thing up in August.

The Christmas House is located at 34 Devonshire Drive, off of Center Road, in Novato, CA

The house is open nightly from the first Saturday in December through January 6 from 6 to 10 pm, including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day. Donations are accepted.

More information