Early Miniatures

Harry W. Smith

Harry has been creating miniatures since the 1950's. His first miniature was a small fireplace. Since that first piece he has worked to make his miniatures as authentic as possible. That first fireplace was no exception. He needed small rocks to line the fire box, however finding small stones in the heart of Chicago's Loop was no easy task. Harry and Marsha went to the alley behind their small apartment looking for the perfect pebbles. As it happened the playboy lounge of the day butted on the same alley As they crawled around looking for the perfect size and shaped stones, the play boy bunnies came out for a break. After a short explanation they joined in the search with ears flopping and tails bobbing. They found the rocks and their adventure into 60 years of creating miniatures had begun.

Harry's early works were sold in small shops and department stores such as Marshal Fields in Chicago.

Below are a few images of those early miniatures.

Harry's first miniature made from a 4-H scrapbook cover. You can see the small stones found in an alley. The log bench was one of the best early sellers.

Painted Dining room set - made in the early 1960's

Scale 1" = 1' - 0"

Painted hutch - This was one of several available designs. - 1" = 1' - 0"

Early kitchen using Harry's dinning room set

Bedroom Set - Hand painted. - made in the early 1960's - Scale 1" = 1' - 0"

Early small accessories - made in the early 1970's - Scale 1" = 1' - 0"

Colonial furniture - made in the early 1960's - Scale 1" = 1' - 0"

Delft tile fireplace - carved of wood and hand painted - Scale 1" = 1' - 0"

Fireplace setting - carved of wood - made in the 1960's - Scale 1" = 1' - 0"

Spinning Wheel - made in the early 1970's - Scale 1" = 1' - 0"

Yarn Winder - made in the early 1970's - Scale 1" = 1' - 0"

Great wheel, Butter Churn and table - made in the early 1970's - Scale 1" = 1' - 0"

Pine Hutch - made in the early 1970's - Scale 1" = 1' - 0"

Sea Chest - Hand painted - made in the early 1970's - Scale 1" = 1' - 0"

Miniature box - Created for a Volkswagen dealer in Indiana

Provincetown Grouping - Created for a furniture dealer in St. Louis.

These were used to show different arrangements to buyers in 1960.

All images are copyrighted works by Harry W. Smith and are protected by the United States and
international copyright law. Use of any content from this site for any purpose is strictly forbidden.