Miniatures (Capt. Ober Larken House)

Per-Seshen Annex

Miniatures (Capt. Ober Larken House)

TO LINK TO MY MAIN HOMEPAGE (WITH MUMMIES, CATS AND MORE NEEDLEWORK), PLEASE CLICK HERE!!!

This 1820's ship captain's house was built from the Corona Gloucester kit. I used brick siding on it and my husband built a basement level for the kitchen and storeroom.

I have arranged the pictures on this page to reflect the rooms of the house from under the eaves to the cellar.

It is still in progress, I need to add shutters and finish some of the furnishings.

The house is based on the estate inventories and wills of two ship captains who each brought an Egyptian mummy to the United States in 1824.

Captain Larkin Turner was from Charlestown, Mass. and Captain Larkin Thorndike Lee was from Beverly, Mass.

I am working on a microhistory of the two captains as part of the research I am doing for my book on the Egyptian mummy in 19th century America.

Almost all the furniture, except for the marble fireplaces

and the piano in the music room

were made by me from House of Miniatures kits.

The rugs are actual woven Turkish rugs

which were advertised as coasters.

Captain Ober Larkin's unmarried sister

Lucinda lives with him and his wife Julianna.

She keeps house for them

This is her sitting room, next to her bedroom, on the third floor.

I need to finish upholserting the cushions on the chaise lounge. footstool and chairs.

All of the rooms are painted in Wedgwood colors.

This was a popular color scheme in the 1820's.

This is Capt. Ober's office and sitting room.

He has collected things from all over the world,

and I will be adding a mummy case to this room

as well as a Japanned desk and chair.

I bought the painted French piano, as I couldn't resist it.

Lucinda plays nicely and is always good for an evening's entertainment.

I need to finish the chair seats in this room,

I haven't found a brocade as yet which

goes with the color scheme.

The kitchen has a large fireplace,

and a fake door to the outside,

plus a staircase which actually ends at the ceiling

(and complements the fake doorway above it in the dining room).

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This is Lucinda's bedroom.

I made the Oriental screen from a gift card.

I will be making new bed linens

and also a wholecloth quilt

for her room.

The quilt which you see on the bed

is a Baltimore quilt, and out of time with this house,

as the pattern didn't become popular until after the 1830's.

This is Captain Ober's and Julianna's bedroom.

I need to make bedding and bed curtains

to finishish this room.

I have chosen a wallpaper stripe fabric,

with black and blue stripes

and a rose and green flower/vine stripe

on cream for the curtains.

Again, I will be making a

wholecloth quilt/counterpane for the bed,

probably in rose silk.

The chair seats in this room need to be finished,

but I have some nice dark green watered silk for them.

There is a fake doorway under the stairs

which is intended to lead to the lower level.

The storeroom is full of food and barrels of wine,

as well as a cat who has gotten into a pitcher of milk,

and several little mice who are watching the cat.

There is again a fake door to the outside.