Scale your work?

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Mark Arnold

Mark Arnold

Well-known member
The Magazine Antiques usually does not give much time or space to stories about reproductions, unless they are being passed off as originals. I found this article on a collection of 60-year-old reproductions at the magazine's web site interesting http://www.themagazineantiques.com/articles/not-for-sale/ because of their scale. This is not doll furniture, however.

I've noticed that scaled pieces at auction typically bring more than their full-size equivalents. Call it what you want--diminutive/salesman samples/children's playthings, someone will pay a premium. Has anyone else noticed this and if so, have you considered saving some lumber and building smaller?
 
I am making a minature highboy right now .
had a collector from Mass. call me about 10 years ago and wanted
5 different minatures but wanted to trade antiques for them.
unfortunatly antiques  do not put food on the table.
 
Pretty impressive minatures!  Does anyone know if there is a frequently used scale for minatures, or is it mostly random?

Rich, what scale did you use for your highboy?
 
Mark,

While it seems to be true that dimunitive examples of furniture bring premium proces as antiques. recall that rareity is what drives prices, other things being equal.  Thus, to simply make some new small pieces does not seem to me to guarantee outsize values.

Having said that,  modern houses and living seem well suited to smaller pieces, not necessarily miniatures, but small-scaled and there are a number of examples of full sized, but smaller scaled pieces that make for nice reproductions to have; high boys, spice chests, etc.

By way of examp[le, relatively few homes can easily accommodate pieces over eight feet in height, yet many tall clocks and case pieces with ornamentatiuon exceed that.

Karl
 
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