Saturday, June 23, 2007

Civil War figurines and miniatures



An unpainted crushed pecan shell figurine.
In 1993, my husband and I helped my daughter move to Charleston, South Carolina. After we got her settled in we had a chance to do some site seeing. We toured Boone Hall Plantation where the miniseries "North and South" was filmed and took a launch out to Fort Sumpter. On the weekends, the old slave market in downtown Charleston is converted into a thriving flea market and street fair. There I found some figurines of Civil War soldiers made out of a resin created with pecan shells.

I bought five of them and wish ever since I had bought all the seller had as I have not been able to find any more since then. The pecan resin takes paint very well and I was quite pleased with my first effort. I even added gray streaks to the beard and mud smudges to the boots.

1990 Melanie Wilkes miniature by the
Franklin Mint
I also discovered that the Franklin mint produced some beautifully detailed resin "Gone With The Wind" miniatures. I was able to win the bid on several of them up on Ebay. Some of them come glued inside a small ornate bell jar but I actually prefer the stand-alone versions.

1990 Scarlett O'Hara miniature by the
Franklin Mint


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