World Of My Own & Rob Lucas Miniatures
1/12th & 1/24th Dressed dolls & kits. 1/12th Whitewood furniture. [R] Accessories.
It’s a match made in heaven with Ann Lucas creating beautiful miniature porcelain dolls and husband Rob Lucas creating scaled whitewood dollshouse furniture. The couple have been making dollshouse miniatures for 30 years, and their work is collected by many thousands of people the world over.
Ann’s dolls which she creates for all periods of history in 1/12th and 1/24th scales are made in fine porcelain, sometimes made from her own original moulds or commercial moulds or made to the customer’s requirements. She paints the faces, wigs the figures and makes all the costumes and accessories in her studio. She also provides the dolls undressed as kits for the customer to dress themselves.
Rob makes 1/12th scale Whitewood furniture for every room in the house, based on authentic designs and made in a fine-grade wood ready for the customer to paint, stain or polish as they wish. Rob’s furniture designs are mainly based upon Victorian country-style designs taken from photographs or drawings of full-size furniture. His website also provides photos and instructions on how to get the very best from your purchase.
Their work has been displayed in many exhibitions and museums over the years including the wonderful display at the Dolls House Museum in Leonardslee Gardens, West Sussex, which depicts the Edwardian estate and neighbouring village at 1/12th scale with landscapes and characters acting out day-to-day activities.
Ann and Rob first met at a local amateur dramatic society. Ann had a half-assembled dollshouse that Rob offered to finish. “But never quite got round to it,” he admits. Throughout the 1980’s and 90’s he had been making spectacular dolls houses with his work featured in many dollshouse magazines.
At the time, they both had very different careers. Ann worked in the City of London in the insurance industry and Rob had a landscape gardening company with contracts all over South East England.
However, they both have had life-long interests in all types of craft. Rob recalls making balsa wood models of Spitfire and Hurricane aeroplanes as a child. While Ann still remembers a dollshouse made from a wooden drawer at her grandparents’ house. The couple formed World of My Own in the mid-1980’s and attended their first dollshouse show in 1987.
Both Ann and Rob are self-taught. Rob said, “My grandfather was a Master Carpenter so woodworking must be in my blood. I’m a bit OCD and every piece I make has to be just right.”
Ann has always had an interest in arts and crafts. She said, “My grandmothers and mum taught me to paint, sew, knit and crochet and I passed an O Level in Art at school. The processes needed for making the dolls, including the porcelain, have been self-taught. I enjoy costume dramas and films and have a large collection of reference books. New designs are also inspired by enquiries from customers which lead to researching. I’m currently working on characters for a 1/12th scale replica model of the Mayflower being built in Portsmouth.
Rob also enjoys research. “I have numerous reference books collected over many years and researching a new piece of furniture is an enjoyable part of the process. The internet of course is a great help.”
While the couple often work together on special projects and commissions for customers, they each have their own separate work rooms next to each other in their 200-year-old cottage as the types of work they each do doesn’t mix well. They also try to keep set hours.
The Dolls House Museum at Leonardslee Gardens was part of Ann and Rob’s working life for around 10 years.
Ann explained, “We were approached by the original owner of Leonardslee, Robin Loder and Helen Holland, who assembled the exhibition. Helen would give me a description of each building she was working on and the characters required and then left it up to me. I believe there are over 200 dolls in the display.”
Rob added, “I made many items for the exhibition from sketches drawn by Helen Holland. Her attention to detail is amazing.” And while Rob is now concentrating on making furniture, he says he will always accept a challenge!
In 2024 the couple made the decision to only do fairs close to home so you will still find them exhibiting at Kensington but they enjoyed being at Miniatura and meeting everyone there. Ann added, “I have been lucky to have many loyal customers who return again and again to add to their collection of dolls. Many customers buy from the ever-changing selection that I take to fairs, whilst others commission dolls made to their own requirements. I always tell people that if they cannot see a suitable figure, other dolls can be ordered with alternative clothing colours, additional accessories such as hats and different hair styles and colours.”
