Creative Woodworks & crafts 1997-08, страница 5

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Touring the Tee Ridder Miniatures Museum

We traveled to Long Island's beautiful "Gold Coast" to visit the Tee Ridder Miniatures Museum at the Nassau County Museum of Art. Built in 1995. the miniatures museum show-rases the collection of the late Madeline. "Tee" Ridder, an artist and collector of miniature arts.

The Museum

Tee Ridder started crafting and collecting miniatures in the late 1960's. when she was about 50. From that time until her death in 1991. Tee created more than 100 miniature rooms. About half of the rooms were given away to charity or private collections, with 46 rooms now on display at the museum. The museum was donated by Tee's husband, the

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The Gilded Room:Tee Ridder enjoyed turning miniature furniture, such as these John Hodgson pieces, into intricately gilded works of art.

by Lawrice Braze! photos by Andy Chen

"Do what you love to do and lose yourself in what you love.'

—:Tee Ridder (1916-1991)

late Eric Ridder, a former director of Knight-Ridder newspapers.

Each of the 12-inch-high rooms is decorated with miniatures such as chairs, tables, rugs, plates, and crystal. The furnishings are tiny replicas of full-size pieces, with a scale of 1 -inch to 1 -foot. Mrs. Ridder made some but not all of the items in the collection. Indeed, she acted mainly as the interior designer, selecting style, color, lighting, wall coverings, and furnishings on most occasions. The rooms contain a mix of handmade pieces, inexpensive store-bought items, and valuable collector pieces. According to museum curator Phyllis Tucker, it was often difficult to tell whether Tee made something herself or whether it was a refinished commercial piece.

A 12-room. neoclassical style dollhouse is also on display. "Mrs. Ridder started working on the dollhouse years ago, even before she started doing the miniature rooms," recalls Jeanne Ferrer, the museum's managing curator. "She had just started redoing the dollhouse when she died." All of the shingling on the dollhouse was done by Mrs. Ridder. Inside the house, the rooms are filled with furniture Mrs. Ridder built or bousht.

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This writing desk, built by John Davenport, comes complete with a secret letter compartment.