The Quartermaines are great art enthusiasts and, like any stately home, the Hall is full of pictures. The Gallery contains a wealth of Old Masters; the Dining Room displays portraits of ancestors (both real and imagined); the Drawing Room is devoted to Dutch still-life painting; and the Parlour and other rooms offer a space for more modern Pre-Raphaelite or Victorian Classical painting. Then there are prints, drawings and watercolours scattered throughout the house. Even the butler and housekeeper have modest works hanging in their rooms.
When we began buying pictures in 1:12 scale, we chose prints of real paintings, often presented with beautiful finishes that convincingly suggest the texture and varnishes of real oils (such as the gorgeous works produced by Mariangela Gagliardi of Cose di un altro mondo). More recently, we’ve bought our first couple of real miniature paintings, by Leslie Smith and Barbara Wilson respectively. As an art historian, I would love to have more hand-painted miniature art in the Hall, but – as an art historian – I have a fairly uncompromising eye, so it might take us a while to expand our collection of originals. Besides, hand-painted miniature art isn’t all that more affordable than full-size art!
We’ll always make it clear when a work is a unique hand-painted piece, rather than a print or a cleverly-created reproduction using another method.
Explore the collection below.
Pair of Rococo Frames
Pair of magnificently elaborate frames by Alison Davies, painted by Karen Bell (2022.208.1-2)
A Chestnut Gelding after Adam
Hand-painted copy by Barbara Wilson, after a painting by Emil Adam (2022.187)
Flowers in a Vase after Bosschaert
Superb hand-painted miniature copy by Leslie Smith, after Ambrosius Bosschaert (2022.153)
View of Amsterdam
A miniature view complemented by a Dutch-style frame by Croft House Miniatures (2021.155)
Tall Ships at the Quay
A miniature landscape complemented by a Dutch-style frame by Croft House Miniatures
A Special Pleader
A replica of a typically Victorian kitsch painting in a frame by Ellie de Lacy (2021.087)
Still Life with Tulips
A grand still life of tulips and porcelain by Cose di un altro mondo (2021.075)
Still Life with Tulips
A framed still life of tulips and Chinese porcelain by Cose di un altro mondo (2021.069)
Still Life with Flowers
A replica of a Balthasar van der Ast flower picture by Cose di un altro mondo (2021.067)
Still Life with Tulips
A framed still life of tulips by Cose di un altro mondo (2021.066)
The Crucifixion
A late medieval painting of a Crucifixion by Mariangela Gagliardi of Cose di un altro mondo (2021.070)
Veronica’s Veil
The face of Christ crowned with thorns appears in this picture by Xavian Miniatures (2021.032)
Quartermaine Hall 