Eloise Kruger Gallery of Miniatures

05/28/2026

Tiny Treasures Thursday 🛏️✨

This past week, our cataloging efforts focused on beds and cradles from across a wide range of styles and traditions. From simple turned-post beds and colonial rope beds to tasseled canopy beds, Pennsylvania Dutch cradles, velvet-adorned bedsteads, and elegant French draped cradles, each piece offers a glimpse into the remarkable variety found throughout Eloise Kruger’s collection.

Whether humble or ornate, these furnishings reflect the extraordinary craftsmanship miniature artisans brought to even the most everyday objects. Together, they showcase Eloise’s passion for collecting miniatures of many periods, materials, makers, and styles.

This small sample represents the 23 new catalog records created this week as we continue documenting the collection piece by fascinating piece.

✨ Visit the gallery to experience these miniature masterpieces in person.

📅 The gallery is open by appointment during the summer months
📧 Contact [email protected] to schedule your visit

In a collection this vast and eclectic, we never know what we’ll uncover next.

Documenting the artistry, one object at a time.

05/25/2026

Miniature Monday ✨

On this Memorial Day, we pause to remember and honor the service members who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our country and the ideals of freedom and democracy.

This small grouping from Eloise Kruger's collection brings together several powerful symbols: an American flag, a handcrafted upholstered armchair, and a globe. Together, they evoke both the worldwide reach of military service and the quiet spaces left behind in remembrance. The empty chair stands as a subtle symbol of the missing service member—those absent yet never forgotten.

The finely crafted globe and armchair were created by American miniaturist Betty Valentine, whose detailed furniture and accessories were admired for their realism and craftsmanship.

Miniatures do more than delight collectors—they preserve memory, reflect history, and celebrate the rich traditions that shape American life.

✨ The gallery is open by appointment during the summer months.
📧 Contact [email protected] to schedule your visit.

05/21/2026

Tiny Treasures Thursday✨

This past week, our cataloging efforts focused on miniature hats and fashion accessories, revealing an extraordinary range of styles collected by Eloise Kruger over decades of passionate collecting.

From woven sombreros and ribbon-trimmed bonnets to plush cloche and toque hats, leather cowboy hats, floral casque hats, feathered fascinators, knit winter caps and elegant derby styles, this small sample reflects both the artistry and diversity found throughout the collection. Some pieces are whimsical and theatrical, while others capture the everyday practicality of fashion in remarkable miniature detail.

Together, these hats demonstrate Eloise’s fascination with miniatures of every material, maker, style, and quality—from handcrafted couture-inspired accessories to charming folk and novelty designs.

This week we added 37 new catalog records, bringing our total to 4,172.

✨ Visit the gallery to experience these miniature masterpieces in person.

📅 The gallery is open by appointment during the summer months
📧 Contact [email protected] to schedule your visit

In a collection this vast and eclectic, we never know what we’ll uncover next.
Documenting the artistry, one object at a time.

05/18/2026

Miniature Monday ✨

This charming hand-painted Renwal dining set captures the playful creativity and accessibility that made Renwal one of the most beloved names in mid-century American dollhouse miniatures.

Founded in New York by Irving Lawner (whose surname inspired the company name spelled backward), Renwal began producing dollhouse furniture and toys in the 1940s and became especially popular during the 1950s. Their hard plastic furniture was affordable, widely distributed through dime stores and catalogs, and often featured colorful painted or stenciled decoration. Hand-painted and decorative sets like this black table and chair ensemble—with its vivid red bird motif and gold accents—reflect the company’s more decorative mid-century styles that appealed to collectors and children alike.

Eloise Kruger’s collection beautifully demonstrates her wide-ranging collecting style. From the late 1930s through the 1980s, she actively sought miniatures of many different materials, makers, styles, and qualities—from fine artisan works to mass-produced pieces like this Renwal set. Eloise appreciated the artistry and charm found across the miniature world, creating a collection that reflects both craftsmanship and the joy of collecting itself.

✨ Experience all the miniature marvels at the gallery!

📅 The gallery is open by appointment during the summer months—contact [email protected] to schedule your visit.

05/15/2026

05/14/2026

Tiny Treasures Thursday✨

This past week, our efforts focused on cataloguing a selection of tables.—from a delicately painted octagonal pedestal table with blue floral decoration to a Strombecker side table with distinctive turned legs. Also included were a sleek mid-century modern dining table with clean lines and tapered legs, an oblong dining table with a removable leaf, and a striking refectory table with an X-shaped stretcher in the Gothic Revival style.

These pieces reflect a wide range of design traditions—from decorative to functional—offering just a glimpse into the remarkable variety within Eloise Kruger’s collection.

✨ Visit the gallery to experience these miniature furnishings in person.
📅 The gallery is open by appointment during the summer months—contact [email protected] to schedule your visit.

In a collection this vast and eclectic, we never know what we’ll uncover next.

Documenting the artistry, one object at a time.

05/11/2026

Miniature Monday ✨

This elegant sterling silver dish by Guglielmo Cini is a beautiful example of refined craftsmanship in miniature. With its delicately scalloped edge and ornate detailing, it echoes the artistry of full-scale decorative silver.

Guglielmo Cini (1885–1979) was an Italian-born silversmith trained in Florence who established a workshop in Boston in the 1920s. Known for his exquisitely detailed sterling silver and gold-plated objects inspired by Renaissance and Baroque design, Cini built a reputation for exceptional hand craftsmanship. He relocated his workshop to California in the mid 1950s.

Eloise was a great admirer of Cini’s artistry, and her collection includes several of his pieces. She had a deep appreciation for silver in many forms—seeking out works by different artisans whose craftsmanship and creativity elevated even the smallest objects into something extraordinary.

✨ Experience the beauty and craftsmanship of these remarkable works in person at the gallery.

📅 The gallery is open by appointment during the summer months
📧 Contact [email protected] to schedule your visit

05/07/2026

Tiny Treasures Thursday✨

From classic forms to decorative flourishes, this week’s cataloging focused on chairs. This selection offers just a glimpse into the variety documented this week, from delicately hand-painted Windsor side chairs with charming floral details to a finely crafted Tynie Toy Hepplewhite chair with elegant proportions, alongside a richly carved Jacobean example, rustic Tyrolean folk art chairs with hand-carved character, and a striking faux bamboo ormolu chair with graceful gilded curves. These charming side chairs reflect the wide range of styles and traditions represented in Eloise Kruger’s collection.

Each piece, though small in scale, demonstrates extraordinary craftsmanship and attention to detail, reminding us how even the simplest forms—like a chair—can become works of art.

This week we added 19 new catalog records, bringing our total to 4,129.

Visit the gallery to experience these miniature masterpieces in person.
📅 The gallery is open by appointment during the summer months—contact [email protected] to schedule your visit.

In a collection this vast and eclectic, we never know what we’ll uncover next.

Documenting the artistry, one object at a time.

05/04/2026

05/04/2026

Thank you to everyone who came out last week for our Final First Friday of the academic year—we had such a great crowd! We were especially excited to welcome Eliza T., our 900th visitor since reopening the gallery in its new space two years ago 🎉

We were honored to celebrate local artist Marjorie Bailey, whose remarkable Nebraska Soddy has been on exhibit this semester. We are deeply grateful for her generosity in loaning this extraordinary work, which reflects both meticulous research and creative talent in its depiction of homesteading life on the Nebraska prairie.

We were thrilled to highlight the amazing work of our Museum Exhibit Design students, who created a display imagining an archaeological excavation of a collapsed sod house. Their exhibit will stay up all summer, so you still have time to check it out!

Over the summer we will be open by easy appointment —just reach out to [email protected] to plan your visit. Hope to see you soon!

05/04/2026

Miniature Monday 🪑✨

This charming Shaker ladder-back youth armchair (Object No. 1997.595b) is a beautiful example of late 20th-century artisan miniature craftsmanship. Created around 1978 by master miniaturist Warren Dick, the chair is made of wood with a carefully woven waxed cord seat, reflecting the simplicity and functionality of traditional Shaker design.

This piece is part of a set of youth chairs—one finished in natural wood (shown here) and another painted black—demonstrating Dick’s thoughtful approach to variation within a single form.

About the artist:
Warren Dick is widely regarded as one of the most important American miniature furniture makers of the 20th century. Known for his meticulous craftsmanship and historically accurate designs, he specialized in early American styles, particularly Shaker and colonial forms. His work is celebrated for its precision, durability, and authenticity, and it has been collected by enthusiasts and institutions alike. Eloise Kruger was a great admirer of his work, and her collection includes numerous examples of his craftsmanship.

Pieces like this youth chair capture not only the aesthetic of traditional furniture, but also the spirit of skilled handwork translated into miniature scale.

✨ Experience all the miniature marvels at the gallery!

📅 Over the summer we will be open by easy appointment —just reach out to [email protected] to plan your visit. Hope to see you soon!