Bed Warmer Update! - The Stubbington Workshop

Well it didn't take long to find another piece of the puzzle regarding the bed warmer in my previous blog!

Bed Warmer - Coin Miniature by The Stubbington Workshop

My clever friend Claire has discovered that my lovely miniature bed warmer was made by Kevin J. Stubbington of The Stubbington Workshop in Portsmouth (UK).

There is a nice little YouTube video of Kevin being interviewed at the New Forest Show, posted in August in 2010. The caption by FRL Media reads: "Kevin Stubbington, founder of the famous Stubbington Workshop at Twickenham, has been a coppersmith for some twenty years. Apart from his practical skills, he is also gifted with artistic and creative flair. Underlying his work is a passion for the Victoria [sic] era."

 

Maker's Mark - The Stubbington Workshop

The Stubbington Workshop maker's mark, matching that on my bed warmer, can be seen on the sign in the background of the YouTube video (left above).

Screen Shot of a Bed Warming Pan Like Mine

in the YouTube Video

I was even able to spot a little bedwarmer just like mine in the opening shots of Kevin's stall.

Miniature Globe made from Coins

Made by The Stubbington Workshop

©Claire Quick

And in fact, my friend Claire, having identified the maker of my bed warmer for me, then realised that she too had a piece by The Stubbington Workshop - one of the little globes discussed in the YouTube video. The little maker's mark on the upright part of the stand had previously gone unnoticed, so we're both pleased to know more about our items!

In the video, Kevin explains the he trained as a coppersmith, serving his apprenticeship in Portsmouth dockyard where he worked for about ten years before taking his work on the road and selling it to antique shops. He gradually developed an interest in antiques and then old coins, which then lead on to his business making coin miniatures like my little bed warmer.

You might have noticed that the video caption refers to "Twickenham" (London), whereas the sign on Kevin's stall indicates that the business was located at 30 Chilgrove Road, Drayton, Portsmouth, and it looks as if the the business relocated to Twickenham, perhaps soon after the interview was filmed.

As evidence of this relocation, at the time of writing, there is an example of a table and chair in its original box - sturdy plain white cardboard with an oval sticker on the lid. The sticker looks just like the oval sign displayed on Kevin's stall in the video (see photo above), however, the address given is "37 Hamilton Road, Twickenham, Middx., TW2 6SN, England". I can see too that the workshop is still listed at that address in various online telephone directories, which could mean that the business is still trading today.

Some of the other dolls' house-appropriate items which I spotted in the video were: a gramophone, a kettle, a jug, balance scales, candlesticks and holders, and a drum kit. 

I will be keeping an eye out for them from now on!

Until next time,

Zoe

A Two Penny Bed-warmer

My last post was about a miniature with a bit of history and this one continues on a similar theme.

This little bed-warmer arrived in the post today. It's 8 cm long and as that's the perfect size for a dolls' house, I'm assuming the that is what it was made for. Here it is hanging from a nail in one of my dolls' house kitchens.

 

What drew me to this little object was the fact that the pan of the bed-warmer is made from two pre-decimal British pennies. They are both dated 1930. I love that!

Being pennies from the 1930s, the inside of the bed-warmer shows the head of King George V (who reigned from 1910 to 1936) on their reverse sides.

It seems appropriate that these pennies have been used because, as I mentioned in my last post, George's queen was Mary of Tek: she of the keen interest in dolls' houses and Queen Mary's Dolls' House.

It's been beautifully made. The handle and hinge are made of brass, as is the little knob on the lid of the pan. The handle, which is soldered to the lower penny or base of the pan, has this lovely embellishment made from what appears to be two interwoven strands of copper, tying in nicely with the copper of the pennies.

The hinge works perfectly and is made from a rod of brass through a hole pierced through the end of the handle. The hinge is soldered to the upper penny or pan lid.

I'm wondering, of course, who made the warming-pan and when.

Intriguingly, there is this tiny impressed mark on the on the end of the handle, next to the hanging ring. It appears to be the letter 'S' with something either side of it. Unfortunately, my internet searching hasn't, thus far, turned up any information on it.

Equally, though we know the age of the coins, I'm completely in the dark as to when they were made into a miniature bed-warmer. 

I've learned that the pre-decimal penny ceased to be legal tender in 1971, and that it's only since The Coinage Act of 1971 that it's been an offence to destroy a metal coin that is current in the UK. Unfortunately, these facts combined mean that the bed-warmer could legally have been made any time in the last ninety-two years!

That said, references to maker's marks on brass seem to indicate that they're seen mainly on antique brass items, and this lovely little object does seem to have some patina of age, so who knows...

Hopefully one day I'll find another piece of the puzzle and all will be revealed!*

Until next time,

Zoe

*Update Added 24th May, 2022

Well, it didn't take long to find another piece of the puzzle! My clever friend Claire has discovered that this lovely item was made by The Stubbington Workshop - see my next post for more information.

George and Mary - A Miniature Souvenir Photo Album

This is a little trinket I bought for one of my dolls' houses last week and absolutely love.

Having recently been immersed in researching the miniatures relating to Queen Mary's Dolls' House for an article I wrote for Dolls' Houses Past and Present online magazine, I'm now hooked on everything to do with Queen Mary and the post-Edwardian era monarchy leading up to our present queen, Queen Elizabeth II (Queen Mary's granddaughter).

The tiny album measures only 2.3 cm high x 1.8 cm wide. The front features a photograph of King George and Queen Mary together.

Inside is a set of fold-out photos of King George, Queen Mary and each of their six children.

First we have King George V of England (b. 1865, d. 1936) who reigned from 1910 to 1936. George was the son of Edward VII and grandson of Queen Victoria.

Next we have Queen Mary of Teck (b. 1867, 1953). Originally betrothed to Prince Albert, the eldest son of Edward VII, she ended up marrying George, after Albert died unexpectedly.

Queen Mary is well-known in dolls' house collector circles for her keen interest in dolls' houses. It was said that when she visited stately homes with dolls' houses in them, the owners dreaded showing them to H.M. because if she took a fancy to something in the house, as she often did, they really had no option but to gift it to her!

It was for Queen Mary that Sir Edwin Lutyens was commissioned in 1921 to construct the palatial dolls' house known as Queen Mary's Dolls' House, now on display in Windsor Castle.

Next in the tiny photo album we have, on the left above, Prince Edward (b. 1894, d. 1972), who later became King Edward VIII before abdicating from the throne to marry the American socialite Wallace Simpson.

On the right above, is Prince Albert (b. 1895, d. 1952), who became King George VI following his brother's abdication. George was the father of our present queen, Queen Elizabeth II.

On the left above, we have Mary, the Princess Royal (b. 1897, d. 1965) who later also became the Countess of Harewood.

On the right above, we have Prince Henry (b. 1900, d. 1974) who became Duke of Gloucester.

Next we have, on the left above, Prince George (b. 1902, d. 1942) who later became the Duke of Kent and died tragically at the age of 39, along with fourteen other men in a military air crash.

And finally, on the right above, we have Prince John (b. 1905, d. 1919) who was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of four. He was subsequently sent to the King's Sandringham estate where he was kept out of the public eye. He died of a severe seizure when he was only thirteen years old.

Judging by the ages of the children in the photos, I am guessing that the miniature will date to around 1911 when the eldest son, Prince Edward, would have been about seventeen, and the youngest, Prince John, about six. This would make sense because the souvenir is likely to have been produced to commemorate the coronation of King George V which was in June 1911.

The photos are all signed "Lafayette", referring to Lafayette Photography which began trading in 1880 and is still trading today, claiming to be the oldest photographic company in Ireland and possibly even in the world.

All that remains now is for me to place the album in a dolls' house of the right period - I'll add a photo here when I've done so, but just at the moment, they're all [very frustratingly] packed away pending a full-size house move.

Until next time,

Zoe