Latest news with #Mulvany
Malaysian Reserve
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Malaysian Reserve
In troubled world, grown-ups find joy in doll's houses
A LOG burns in the hearth in the artfully lit drawing room. The armchairs look plush and inviting. Glasses and a bottle of wine stand ready as the grandfather clock keeps time. It is all straight out of a glossy magazine and yet every carefully crafted item in the room could fit into the palm of one hand. 'I love Victorian (19th century) houses and always wanted to live in one but it never happened,' laughed doll's house enthusiast Michele Simmons, admiring the cosy miniature scene by historical specialists Mulvany & Rogers. The 57-year-old corporate recruiter revived her childhood passion for doll's houses during the Covid-19 and has since 'flipped' about 10, buying them, doing them up and selling them on. She and her daughter thought nothing of flying all night from Boston, Massachusetts in the US to hunt for tiny curtains and a child's crib at the leading Kensington Dollshouse Festival in London. 'I love it! You don't think about anything else when you are doing this,' she said, admitting she often had to be dragged out of her work shed to feed her children as she became so absorbed. Exquisite Miniatures The annual festival has been gathering some of the world's finest miniature craftspeople since 1985, celebrating a hobby that has recently seen rising interest and a mushrooming of online activity. It showcases tiny versions of anything needed to furnish a house, from chandeliers and paintings to mahogany dining tables and kitchen items, all with steep price tags. Doll's houses may be traditionally associated with children, but this high-end miniature collecting is very much an adult hobby. 'This is craftspeople working on just exquisite things,' said self-confessed 'tiny-obsessed' Rachel Collings, who bought toys from renowned miniaturists Laurence & Angela St Leger. Every single one of her purchases, which cost at least £40 (RM229), fits easily into a small plastic container and will be added to her collection of equally small items. 'I've got half a cut lemon. Just imagine the size of that. A lemon squeezer and a pastry brush and a hand whisk that actually works,' said the 47-year-old editor. 'It's an inner child thing. These things are just so beautiful.' Doll's houses originated from Europe in the 1500s when they were used to display the miniature possessions of the wealthy. Just as at the festival, these so-called 'baby houses' were strictly for adults, not children. Retired midwife Susan Evans, 67, on her annual pilgrimage from Colwyn Bay in north Wales, does not just have one doll's house. 'I have a whole village,' she said. 'It's got 18 Victorian shops, a school, a manor house, a pub and a now a church,' she said, adding that the church had cost over £4,000. Initially the hobby was just a stress-buster to help her unwind, but she has now raised thousands of pounds hosting groups to visit the display in her home. 'It's my passion. It's escapism and it's about using your imagination, which I think is very good for your mental health,' she said. Craftspeople display intricate miniature furnishings at the showcase 'In Control' Kensington Dollshouse organiser Charlotte Stokoe said there was currently huge interest in doll's houses and miniatures compared to before the Covid-19. 'When the world itself is going a bit crazy with so much stress in everyone's lives, it's quite relaxing. You are in control,' she said, adding that many people had delighted in pulling out old doll's houses during the Covid-19 lockdowns. And at a time of rising costs, she said, people had 'discovered they can do interior design that maybe they can't do with their own homes — in small scale it's so much more doable'. Medical anthropologist Dalia Iskander of University College London (UCL) has spent three years researching the subject for her forth-coming book 'Miniature Antidotes'. 'For many people it's a way of exploring their own experiences and memories and imagination and incorporating that into these miniature worlds,' she said. A whole range of medical issues such as depression or anxiety could all be explored through miniatures in a 'beneficial' way, she added. Miniatures enthusiast Collings said the hobby had become such a source of happiness that her 12-year-old daughter also got involved. She urged anyone to give it a try. 'When everything is difficult, there are these tiny things,' she said. 'Sometimes I just go and sit and look at them and it just makes me happy.' — AFP This article first appeared in The Malaysian Reserve weekly print edition
Irish Examiner
23-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Mataariki makes all to land Gowran Park spoils
Successful on this track on her debut last year, Mataariki made all to land the €30,000 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies Handicap for Joseph O'Brien on a Gowran Park card given the go-ahead after a morning inspection. Sent off the 3-1 joint-favourite, the Cracksman filly dictated the pace under Dylan Browne McMonagle, poached a clear lead early in the straight, and kept on well to beat Marakesh by a length and a half. 'A couple of her runs last year have worked out well and she's learning the whole time,' stated O'Brien. 'We've experimented with different trips, but Dylan feels seven is a good trip for her. 'She enjoys juice in the ground and this race has been good for us (O'Brien has won four of the last five renewals). These super competitive fillies handicaps are very important. We'll try to find another one for her and we'll try for some black type again at some stage.' It was Donnacha O'Brien's turn to taste success in the one-mile fillies' maiden as Gavin Ryan partnered 3-1 favourite Dahlia Noir to a narrow victory over Lady Lilac. 'She was rated to win a maiden, so it's great to get the job done,' commented the trainer. 'She has loads of ability but keeps a bit for herself — Gavin said she idled when she hit the front. She should be better in a better race. And we'll try to find a handicap that suits her.' Irish 1,000 Guineas entry Varshini, ridden for Fozzy Stack by Seamus Heffernan, ran out a convincing winner of the seven-furlong Gowran Park Golf Club Maiden, beating the consistent Kilmood Susan. 'She had a good run last year, but had a few niggly hold-ups,' explained Stack. 'She probably needs a dig in the ground and I hope she comes forward from today. She's in the Irish Guineas, but that'll come a bit quick. We'll try to find a nice stakes race for her somewhere.' Successful on his seasonal debut at Naas for Mick Mulvany, Dance For Chester followed up on his first start for Stephen Thorne when justifying 11-10 favouritism in the Dining Packages At Gowran Park 3-Y-0 Handicap, providing Jack Kearney with another success at the County Kilkenny track. The Ribchester gelding travelled strongly into the lead before holding off the Mulvany-trained longshot James The Second by three-quarters of a length. Mulvany enjoyed a tonic in the following Thomastown Handicap when Dinamine opened his account, at the 35th attempt, earning the spoils, on the nod, over Serengeti Sunrise. 'I had him as a two-year-old and he was a goodish horse, but he went away and only came back a couple of months ago,' explained Mulvany. 'We found out a bit about him and it's great that he's won for his owner/breeder Seán Finnegan.' Despite a tardy start, Scott Key (100-30 favourite) bolted up by almost five lengths for the Slatterys in the Irish Injured Jockeys Handicap, his second venture into handicap company. Winning trainer Andy Slattery said: 'I was hoping he'd do that, to get him into the premier handicap in Naas on Monday (the Blackwater 3-Y-0 Handicap). 'He was very big as a two-year-old and green the last day in Cork, but he improved a lot. If he's okay, he'll go to Naas, with a 7lb mandatory penalty.' And Shane Foley gave Yvonne Latta's Spring Evening a well-judged front-running ride to win the finale, the @gowranpoark1 Handicap, dictating the pace and, ultimately, holding the late flourish of favourite Elle Dorado Rock by a half-length. The lightly-raced five-year-old should give the Latta team plenty of fun as a dual-purpose performer.
