Ben McCall/Sun Photo
AN ARTIST OF MINIATURE PROPORTION: Artist William Robertson poses with the original decorative spinning wheel played with by French ladies of the royal court and other women of leisure. Robertson researched the piece and then created working replicas in one-inch and two-inch scale.
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Toy & Miniature Museum's program features local miniature artist, works
BY: Kellie Houx, Associate Editor
Kansas Citian William Robertson said patience is critical to creating the scale miniatures he will show at the Toy and Miniature Museum, 5235 Oak St.
The museum will celebrate Robertson's three decades of contributions to the world of miniatures starting with an illustrated lecture and gallery tour from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. March 24.
Robertson will present the lecture, “Miniatures by William R. Robertson: A 30-Year Retrospective.”
The museum has the largest collection of his work on public display.
“I guess (the career) started as a kid in school,” he said. “I was always building things. When I would be required to give a report in school, I would build a diorama.”
Those skills translated into fixing his brother's Christmas toys and into dismantling and reassembling cars.
“You name it, I have built it,” he said, “from buggies to racecars.”
Junk mail advertising a desk turned Robertson's life around in 1977. Rather than design a full-size piece, Robertson wanted to re-create the desk exactly, but in miniature.
“So I started,” he said. “The first was crude, but I kept at it and each subsequent piece got better and better.”
Robertson's miniatures all function. Drawers have dovetail joints and there are secret compartments.
“It is exactly like the original,” he said.
In the circa-1760 Georgian mansion on display at the museum, the tiniest door latch can be locked, the windows glide open and the paneling in the library is made from 200-year-old trees. The front door consists of 216 individual pieces. There is an estimated 75,000 pieces in the manor which took about nine years to create,
Another display will include a 200-year-old, original spinning wheel, designed most likely as an ornament for ladies in the French court. Images exist of noblewomen playing at spinning that come from the Diderot Encyclopedia, and that fascinated Robertson. He built two copies n one that is 2 inches and another that is an inch big.
Robertson used 18th century measurements and tools to create the wheel.
“The challenge is to figure out how to make a piece to scale, but as a miniature,” he said. “Lloyd McCaffrey, another artist, said research is like putting together a master's thesis. You really do that.”
While working on an 18th century-inspired piece, Robertson will listen to biographies of French kings and queens on tape. His workbench will be covered in maps of 18th century Paris.
“I get very focused,” he said. “I will not realize how time has flown until I have to change a tape to the other side.”
If Robertson can plan ahead and make the right contacts while traveling, he has been allowed to hold pieces, such as Louis XV's microscope designed by Claude-Simeon Passemant, instrument maker to the king. He has gone into vaults and castle basements to study the details.
Colonial American furniture, especially pieces found in Philadelphia and Rhode Island, appeal to Robertson. He also likes Viennese Secession art and drafting rooms from about 1900.
“I like small things, and I like things that work,” Robertson said. “I don't really know where the line is between skill and art, and I don't think I want to know. Hundreds of years ago, science, art and music were tied all together. I do keep them together today.”
Robertson makes tools to create miniatures and is in demand to help develop other miniature museums. He helped restore historic workshops, including one used by the Wright Brothers.
Robertson has been a guest lecturer in Europe, Japan, the Smithsonian Institution and the National Geographic Society. Some of his Japanese students will visit the museum.
“I teach a couple classes yearly and I am glad to share my work (with) those who are often as driven and interested in this rare field,” he said.
Robertson has earned a reputation as one of the world's finest miniaturists.
“Most artists in this field do not stay long, but I have been fortunate,” he said. “I have been able to live, travel, meet great people and see amazing places that inspire me.”
Robertson's work is higher quality than miniatures found in hobby stores. His pieces are meticulous in detail and function.
“I don't produce a lot of pieces annually because of the kind of research I do,” he said.
Collectors typically buy his pieces before assembly.
“Each person brings a different reaction to looking at miniatures,” he said. “The Shuttlecocks at the Nelson are a common item blown up. They are very public, but miniatures are more private and personal. The essence is an old, everyday object that elicits a one-on-one reaction. You get up close and study it. The more you look, the more that is there. If the focus is there, the complexity can be seen. I love to see the reactions to my work.”
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The museum will celebrate Robertson's three decades of contributions to the world of miniatures starting with an illustrated lecture and gallery tour from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. March 24.
Robertson will present the lecture, “Miniatures by William R. Robertson: A 30-Year Retrospective.”
The museum has the largest collection of his work on public display.
“I guess (the career) started as a kid in school,” he said. “I was always building things. When I would be required to give a report in school, I would build a diorama.”
Those skills translated into fixing his brother's Christmas toys and into dismantling and reassembling cars.
“You name it, I have built it,” he said, “from buggies to racecars.”
Junk mail advertising a desk turned Robertson's life around in 1977. Rather than design a full-size piece, Robertson wanted to re-create the desk exactly, but in miniature.
“So I started,” he said. “The first was crude, but I kept at it and each subsequent piece got better and better.”
Robertson's miniatures all function. Drawers have dovetail joints and there are secret compartments.
“It is exactly like the original,” he said.
In the circa-1760 Georgian mansion on display at the museum, the tiniest door latch can be locked, the windows glide open and the paneling in the library is made from 200-year-old trees. The front door consists of 216 individual pieces. There is an estimated 75,000 pieces in the manor which took about nine years to create,
Another display will include a 200-year-old, original spinning wheel, designed most likely as an ornament for ladies in the French court. Images exist of noblewomen playing at spinning that come from the Diderot Encyclopedia, and that fascinated Robertson. He built two copies n one that is 2 inches and another that is an inch big.
Robertson used 18th century measurements and tools to create the wheel.
“The challenge is to figure out how to make a piece to scale, but as a miniature,” he said. “Lloyd McCaffrey, another artist, said research is like putting together a master's thesis. You really do that.”
While working on an 18th century-inspired piece, Robertson will listen to biographies of French kings and queens on tape. His workbench will be covered in maps of 18th century Paris.
“I get very focused,” he said. “I will not realize how time has flown until I have to change a tape to the other side.”
If Robertson can plan ahead and make the right contacts while traveling, he has been allowed to hold pieces, such as Louis XV's microscope designed by Claude-Simeon Passemant, instrument maker to the king. He has gone into vaults and castle basements to study the details.
Colonial American furniture, especially pieces found in Philadelphia and Rhode Island, appeal to Robertson. He also likes Viennese Secession art and drafting rooms from about 1900.
“I like small things, and I like things that work,” Robertson said. “I don't really know where the line is between skill and art, and I don't think I want to know. Hundreds of years ago, science, art and music were tied all together. I do keep them together today.”
Robertson makes tools to create miniatures and is in demand to help develop other miniature museums. He helped restore historic workshops, including one used by the Wright Brothers.
Robertson has been a guest lecturer in Europe, Japan, the Smithsonian Institution and the National Geographic Society. Some of his Japanese students will visit the museum.
“I teach a couple classes yearly and I am glad to share my work (with) those who are often as driven and interested in this rare field,” he said.
Robertson has earned a reputation as one of the world's finest miniaturists.
“Most artists in this field do not stay long, but I have been fortunate,” he said. “I have been able to live, travel, meet great people and see amazing places that inspire me.”
Robertson's work is higher quality than miniatures found in hobby stores. His pieces are meticulous in detail and function.
“I don't produce a lot of pieces annually because of the kind of research I do,” he said.
Collectors typically buy his pieces before assembly.
“Each person brings a different reaction to looking at miniatures,” he said. “The Shuttlecocks at the Nelson are a common item blown up. They are very public, but miniatures are more private and personal. The essence is an old, everyday object that elicits a one-on-one reaction. You get up close and study it. The more you look, the more that is there. If the focus is there, the complexity can be seen. I love to see the reactions to my work.”