My main workbench. Photo: David Edwards.
Maker of 1/12th scale dollshouse miniatures for the experienced collector. Now they have become rare on the market.
Full-time professional miniaturist since 1983, David Edwards enjoys world-wide renown as a creator of exquisite replicas of everyday and quality pieces that add realistic detail to miniature settings. His enviable reputation is based on a combination of his ability to select the appropriate materials and his unerring eye for design and finish.
David’s objective is to recreate the essence of each piece through the use of his formidable range of techniques leaving the experienced collector with a sense of delighted recognition. Apart from a limited range of Scottish kitchen furniture David specializes in creating those individual pieces that make a dollshouse a home.
Most of his range of more than 100 items is unique in the world of miniatures. His combs have teeth that really are accurately to scale, the hairbrushes have real bristles in tufts. There is a violin with gut strings that even has a soundpost inside, a “cut-throat” razor that is properly hollow-ground and a Victorian breadboard with the word “BREAD” carved in relief. Usually David’s method of construction follows that of the original full-sized prototype and this leads to a perfectly detailed miniature that can withstand scrutiny under a lens. In fact, when exhibiting, David shows much of his work under magnification.
Apart from kitchenware and personal items such as a pipe with silver band and a toothbrush with real bristles, the sewing accessories are a speciality. His silver thimble, for instance, is made in exactly the same way as a real thimble and could be used if it were 12 times larger. There are no cast or moulded parts in any of David’s pieces, all are “scratch-built”. He even seasons the highest quality woods himself for at least 20 years before use after painstaking selection from local tree surgeons and timberyards. Only the finest materials are eventually selected for colour and grain to match that of the much larger original.
Many of David’s miniatures are based on Victorian designs but others have a timeless quality. His range of recorders, for example, whilst originally Elizabethan would be equally at home in any subsequent period house.
David has attended countless shows worldwide in the past and his final show in the UK was the Kensington Dollshouse Festival in May 2014. His last show and "swansong" was the NZAME in Nelson, New Zealand, in October 2014. His work is displayed in leading exhibitions around the world.
Demand for his miniatures is such that David had orders for many years ahead but, now 79, he has had to retire because of a broken leg and subsequent complications. He is working only on completing a violin (already spoken for).
BACKGROUND.
1954/56 - National Service in Royal Army Medical Corps .
1956/60 student at Royal Academy of Music (cello) .
1960/83 member of Royal Opera House Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Edinburgh String Quartet, Royal Scottish National Orchestra etc.
1983 onwards full-time professional miniaturist.
2015 Retired.
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