Miniatura

Barbara from Tarbena Miniatures tells us all about their work.​

We started making miniatures in the mid 90s. Alan was an antique restorer and I was a Maths Teacher. Our interest grew from a casual discussion about making pieces of furniture in 1/12 scale that looked like real antiques .Alan initially supplied the Singing Tree exclusively and the pieces he made were miniature copies of furniture that he had restored over the many years that he had worked as a restorer.​

I made mirrors and frames and then my own range of painted furniture. When the Singing Tree closed we combined our work and became Tarbena Miniatures. We work from home and each have a workshop.​

There are many stages involved in making a piece of furniture and the antiquing, painting and polishing of each piece takes up a great deal of time. The furniture must be left to dry between each stage and there can be as many as 15 stages. It is difficult to measure the time as we are always working on several pieces at any one time.​

Our work, we believe, is unique in that we pay special attention to the finishing of the furniture. We aim to make each piece look just like it’s original antique counterpart, only 1/12 scale. This means scaling down accurately and putting in all the extra details in the finish. We believe that they must look “correct”. We always consider that if, when photographed, you are unable to say whether or not, it is miniature or full sized, then we have gone some way to achieving that goal.​

We concentrate on Georgian and Regency furniture but enjoy making pieces from other periods as well. Jacobean,17th Century, William and Mary, and Victorian furniture are all in our collection. We welcome commissions too as we love the challenge of doing something different. Each year we create a Limited Edition piece, something rather special.

We have three dollshouses now. The most recent is a 1/24th scale architectural model of a converted mill in Braintree, which Alan has made. So in addition to the 1/12th scale furniture, we are now in the process of creating a new range, which we are gradually adding to our website. All are works in progress but over the years we have collected items from other makers and now have the pleasure of displaying them properly and enjoying the scene they create.