All the Better to Read You With, My Dear

The theme for "Smile on Saturday" for the 28th of January is "optical instruments". If you follow my photostream, you may know that I collect 1:12 size miniatures, some of which have featured in past themes in the "Looking Close on Friday" and "Smile on Saturday" groups. These have included some 1:12 miniature books, which, as I get older, I do now need spectacles if I wish to read what is written on some of their tiny pages. I happened to be on holidays, photographing my 1:12 miniatures collection, the day that the theme was announced. I immediately thought I could use them for the theme. Initially, I photographed a pair of 1:12 miniature spectacles sitting atop a stack of miniature books on a miniature table, but I wasn’t particularly enamoured with the results. Then I thought of the Victorian lorgnette I have. Combining the miniatures and the lorgnette led to this result!

I should like to dedicate this photo to my Flickr friend John John from Brisbane who has always been supportive of my miniatures photography. John has a fascination with fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, and I told him that I had some 1:12 miniature editions of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s books of Sherlock Holmes in my collection, and finally, here they are in centre stage! I hope John likes this picture dedicated to him, as I hope you do, and I also hope that it makes you smile.

This Victorian lorgnette was made in Austria around the turn of the Twentieth Century. Very cleverly made, the lorgnette can easily be folded up to form a pendant monocle. The gold light caught in the glass on the left is the reflection of my pendant light overhead. With a silver and ebonised wood handle, I imagine that the Viennese owner quite enjoyed taking these with her to the city’s many theatres, not so she could watch the show on stage for which she had opera glasses, but so she could watch the fashion show of elegantly dressed ladies around her.

The Sherlock Holmes books by Arthur Conan Doyle are all 1:12 size miniature made by the British miniature artisan Ken Blythe. Most of the books I own that he has made may be opened to reveal authentic printed interiors. In some cases, you can even read the words, depending upon the size of the print! I have quite a large representation of Ken Blythe’s work in my collection. What might amaze you even more is that all Ken Blythe’s opening books are authentically replicated 1:12 scale miniatures of real volumes. To create something so authentic to the original in such detail and so clearly, really does make this a miniature artisan piece. Ken Blythe’s work is highly sought after by miniaturists around the world today and command high prices at auction for such tiny pieces, particularly now that he is no longer alive. I was fortunate enough to acquire pieces from Ken Blythe prior to his death about four years ago, as well as through his estate via his daughter and son-in-law. His legacy will live on with me and in my photography which I hope will please his daughter. I hope that they make you smile with their sheer whimsy!

Taken on: January 15, 2023

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