The Mini Time Machine is a miniature museum in Tucson, Arizona, USA, founded by Walter and Patricia Arnell. Even as a child, Patricia's favorite gifts were doll houses, which she began collecting in earnest in the 1980s. This collection formed the basis of the museum; the exhibition grows every year and is replenished with new items. The collection includes several pieces created by American miniature designer Iris Ann Hertzfeld.
Essence of Island Books (1988) features a tiny bookshop in 1:12 scale. The real Island Books has been in business since 1973 on Mercer Island in Washington State. The store model was one of Hertzfeld's first attempts to recreate a real-life location. She visited Island Books, where she measured the entire space, from walls to individual shelves, and took photographs necessary for the work. The artist herself made all the furniture and about 1,500 books, arranging them by theme, and her husband installed the electricity - the store is lit with small light bulbs.
Another composition called Weaving Studio (1991), also assembled in 1:12 scale, is dedicated to the art of weaving. Herzfeld was inspired to create this miniature by a workshop she once saw with a weaving loom. As in the case of a bookstore, everything here is worked out to the smallest detail: multi-colored yarn, weaving equipment, a wood-burning stove in the corner - every detail is in its place, the whole workshop looks harmonious. Perhaps the most impressive thing about this miniature is the rugs that Hertzfeld made using a model loom. Subsequently, she repeatedly used it to design other miniatures.
Source: theminitimemachine.org
