A Game of Croquet by John Firth (1 Viewer)

[kogu]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

it is my great pleasure to announce the receiving of my latest commission from our fellow forum member John Firth or "beating retreat".

Some collectors will remember my postings of the previous commission, about a year ago, which was "The Officer's Mess" or "Christmas in India".
For the new item, we stayed in the same era and location, Victorian Empire and India.

Below you will see some pics of my newest addition to my "British Empire" collection in Superior Gloss.

It's called "A Game of Croquet" and the entire composition is done by John.

I am very short on time this week, but I couldn't resist to post at least a few photos to share them here.

By the weekend I should be able to elaborate a bit more about it and try photos from different angles and such.

For now, here are some general views and a few details will follow in a next post.

Happy Collecting!

Konrad

 

[wadepat]

Hi Konrad,

Outstanding! What a beautiful addition to your collection! As you know better than most, John's creative and skilled work cannot be matched. You are extremely fortunate to have so many of his works included in your collection. The rest of us are fortunate that you share them with us. Congratulations on yet another wonderful example of superior toy soldier art! And, thank you for sharing it with us!

Warmest personal regards,

Pat

 

[Kiwi]

WOW!! That is awesome! Very creative and beautifully executed. Fantastic addition to your collection, Konrad, well done.

Kiwi

 

[Napoleon1er]

Absolutely stunning! How does one go about commissioning a set from him?
-Sandor

 

[kogu]

I got a couple more quick shots for tonight, that show a little more details or sections of the scene.

For some reason I think that the English competitors of the Croquet Game placed their Lady at the side of the turf for some distraction ^&grin :wink2:

The next photo shows three senior Indian Army Officers of various regiments who got into talking, enjoying some time out in the park.

Konrad

 

[Louis Badolato]

Wow!!!^&cool^&cool^&cool^&cool^&cool John is a genius!

 

[kogu]

Thank you very much, guys, for your positive comments.
They are much appreciated, and even boost the pleasure of looking at this scene right now next to me ^&grin

Two more scenes here.
The first one is a closer view of the older gentleman enjoying a smoke on the bench with his Lady next to him who fancies a little reading. They are accompanied by their faithful dog.

The other scene shows the snake charmer and the photographer, which make for a beautiful "side scene" in the overall display. Only John can come up with stuff like that :wink2:

Konrad

 

[kogu]

And two last pictures for tonight.

One is of the fountain, and I swear it looks like the water is pouring :smile2:
You almost here the splattering sound of the water, and I'm not kidding ^&grin

The photographer is the last point of attention tonight, and extremely well done figure.

I will have to get back with you guys about more details.
Things like the dog, some of the floral stuff, the cobra in the basket, and on and on ......

All these figures are in the traditional 54mm style and when it comes to a cobra snake in that scale, you will find that it takes an artist's hand to paint such an amazing detail.

But that's for later.

Cheers, everyone, and Happy Collecting!

Konrad

 

[jazzeum]

What a creation! {eek3}

 

[lancer]

Konrad, I know I've said this about John's creations before, but this has to be the absolute neatest thing I've seen in this hobby. Congratulations on having this wonderful dio to enjoy and thanks for sharing with the rest of us. -- Al

 

[Obee]

Brilliant work by John yet again!!

Its not only the painting in high gloss detailed finish, but the design and building with the variation of vegetation and brickwork in the diorama set and the posing of the various figures from a variety of makers to achieve a masterpiece.

Well Done John !!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[thebritfarmer]

Johns work is superb, thanks Konrad for sharing another masterpiece with us.

 

[GICOP]

Beautiful, just beautiful {bravo}}{bravo}}{bravo}}

Cheers

Martyn

 

[DMNamiot]

Hi Konrad,

This is an amazing work of art! So wonderful to see glossy work in this era of matte. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Dave

 

[aujj65]

That is one of the best creations I have seen on this forum - just a masterpiece! ^&cool

Well done to John {bravo}} and Konrad you must have by now one of the most unique collections of gloss figures out there! :salute::

Jeff

 

[PolarBear]

Konrad

This is not only a Masterpiece but an entire gallery of Masterpieces
Your British Empire Collection grows by leaps and bounds and is nonpareil.
I hope this will be featured in one of the toy soldier magazines.

Randy

 

[jazzeum]

When you come up for air Konrad, I would love to hear how the project was conceived, who made the figures and so forth. Looks like your Christmas present is taken care of!

Brad

 

[tdubel]

Super dio Konrad! Excellent painting/constructing John!

Love it! Where are the figures from??

Tom

 

[kogu]

Thank you very much for all the positive comments, guys :smile2:

When looking at a diorama, the detail of the individual pieces often gets lost in the total view.
So, I would like to point out some single items.
Let me start with the Cobra.

Here are two views, front and back, of just the cobra and the basket.

Cheers!

Konrad

 

[kogu]

Randy, Brad, Tom,
I can answer a few questions, but not all :redface2:

John Eden Studios supplied the initial set of the Croquet game, 4 players, 2 Ladies, and the accessories.
Benches and the old couple with dog are also from John Eden Studios.

With that said, John Firth did alterations to the figures, i.e. on the two English Players.

Other figures, vegetation, accessories, were added by John Firth during the process of designing the display.
I am very positive that a number of sculpts, like the Officers around the scene, are from the hands of Alan Caton.

My only contribution was the request of a "Game of Croquet" scene, in a bit more elaborated scene than the original 6-piece set.
After that I left it to John, the design, the number of figures, the scenery, etc.

And, man oh man, what a wonderful job he did :salute::

Maybe John can chime in here and elaborate about specific details.
It would be a great pleasure to hear it from the artist himself.

Further information about this diorama will be available in a feature in one of the next releases of the TSC (Toy Soldier Collector) magazine, early in 2014.

Here are two pics of one of the watching Officers.

Happy Collecting!

Konrad