Tim Sitford (Sweetington) – Regency ‘Chinese’ Room Box

The Mysterious Sweetington

As I searched the Internet for images of Victorian or Edwardian dollhouses, I kept finding the photo credit “Sweetington.” I was offered links to Sweetington on Flickr, a photo streaming website. When I clicked on thumbnail pictures, gorgeous images of apparent miniatures filled the screen. Click again to expand the image and I usually found myself on a Pinterest board or someone’s blog. And the source was usually back at Flickr. Not once was I transported to the website of the artisan/photographer named Sweetington. I wondered if there such a person.

Great Photoshop Work?

My confusion continued when, after I searched the Internet for this image and got the following message, “Best guess of this image: Brighton Pavilion interior. Then a friend sent me an email with a photo of the real hand placing the chair in the supposed Regency Chinoiserie room box. The subject line of the email was, “Great Photoshop Work”

Tim Sidford Recency Chinese Room Box

The Jane Austin Connection

That did it. I marked Sweetington off as a talented architectural/interiors photographer, until one day I stumbled upon the blog, “All Things Jane Austen”. It caught my eye because a few years before, Patrick had a business trip to London. Over a weekend, we were guests at Godmersham Park in Kent, a manor house that his client had turned into a conference center. (It’s now the home of the Association of British Dispensing Opticians College).

The story goes that Jane Austen spent a summer of 1813 at Godmersham Park, writing Pride And Prejudice in the “folly,” a small garden pavilion styled after a Greek temple. The blog page that opened had Google’s “Best guess” picture smack in the middle, with the name of a miniature artisan — Tim Sidford.

Regency ‘Chinese’, 1825 – Work In Progress

Tim Sidford

Wow! Maybe Sweetington is miniaturist! I got serious about tracking down the elusive Tim Sidford, who turned out to be not so elusive after all. If I had read more carefully, I would have noticed that at least a few of the Pinterest boards mentioned his name.

Tim Sidford a.k.a. Sweetington, is a classical musician, painter, interior designer, piano teacher, who also happens to make wonderful miniatures.

“My most popular items,” Tim explains, “are quirky miniature dollhouses designed to sit on a shelf or side table.”

Tim Sidford shelf house

Tim Sidford a.k.a. Sweetington, is a classical musician, painter, interior designer, piano teacher, who also happens to make wonderful miniatures. “My most popular items”, Tim explains, “are quirky miniature dollhouses designed to sit on a shelf or side table.”

This very Renaissance man goes on to explain, My bonkers hobby is creating miniature interiors. I love the drama of many historic interiors. Creating these models allows me to indulge my inner designer.  The rooms are constructed of wood and card and wooden molded decorative trim, as well as bits of old cereal packets, drinking straws, balsa wood, beads, plastic food packaging etc. The most enjoyable bit is painting the floors, walls, and ceilings. Most of the furniture is by Playmobil, although I will often customize it.

Tim Sidford at work

Miniature enthusiasts applaud Tim Sidford’s work, but his reach goes beyond our universe. There is this mention on the BookPatrol blog. ?We all know good things come in small packages, but British artist Tim Sidford takes the cake with his meticulous miniature interiors. Bordering on unbelievable, Sidford recreates the stuff that dreams are made of within the smallest of structures.?

And from TheInFill: They are all [Tim’s miniatures][/Tim’s] so mind-blowing beautiful and precise, I think they’ve filled me up for the day.

So there it is. My search for the artisan behind the pseudonym Sweetington is over. Now I can just enjoy Tim Sidford’s work.

You might enjoy my article, “Mythical Sweetington Castle.”

Susan Downing, with Patrick Owens