A Visit with Kelly Weimer, Part II

 

This second installment of our visit to Kelly Korber Weimer's collection will start with the side chamber of the basement and then explore the upper formal room (above).

 I first met Kelly in the 1990s when I used to attend Greater Pitt Model Horse Show.  She was part of what we called 'the Pitt crew,' along with Kelly Englesiepen (Keracher), Lucy Kusluch and Jan Wagner and her daughter Rebecca, and later Felicia Browell, who wrote the Breyer Collector Book Guides.  Between them the Kellys could answer nearly any question Felicia put to them.  That was just the beginning of an encyclopaedic knowledge-base of Breyer and Breyer's products. 

When we last saw this chamber, it looked like this (above).  The space has models on three sides, and I had to turn around to see them all.  If you're standing with your back to the cross corridor, this is what you see:  Hartlands!

Moving to the front of this shelf:  More Hartlands!!

 Naturally I asked what that blue foal was.  I learned it was (just as naturally) a digital print out.

Below.  The chestnut pinto Grazing Foal is an early repaint by Laura H. Behning.  It was found in an Ohio antique mall.

Moving to the right (see what I mean about miscellaneous?) these are various non-equines, dogs and cats.  Below, more miscellaneous.

Turning further right, one is hopefully going to be warm in the winter.   This is a more impromptu shot than most, but it shows the shape of the side chamber.  Turning right even more, the relationship of this space with the cross corridor should be clearer.  That's the main hallway behind the right edge of these shelves, below.

You can walk entirely around this part of the collection and come out near the two entryways.

Now it's time to move upstairs and take a look at the Room.  Farewell oh best of basements.  I could've stayed longer but I needed to see the upper collection while I still had ready access memory...!  and it's a good thing I did.   flourish of trumpets

This is the more formal, polished 'upper' edition of the collection.  It includes some very nice chinas (which I did not capture).   Upon entry the most intriguing thing about the room was the mural:

Kelly told me it was there when they bought the house.  No one knows who painted it.

Once again, my shots were not carefully calculated to cover all;  what you see here is post-processing, to roughly pass across the shelves left to right and top to bottom.  I asked about the roan Alborozo, and learned he is a repaint.

I was told the Florentine 5-Gaiter has a broken-off tail.

Both Kelly and myself have been looking for a Copenhagen Running Mare, so far without success.

Now that's a corner unit -- !  The chestnut pinto Mittens, next to the blue Ansel, was painted by Kelly.

Kelly told me she has all of the Stretch Morgans except Bennington (of whom only 3 were made).  I can also report she told me elsewhere she has about 63 Fighting Stallions.  This shelf is a spot I shot twice, just from sheer delight.  (And maybe to see those little Copperfoxes, Winstons, in many colors!)

The Charcoal Fighter at the end of this next shelf is from the Francis Collection.  He has far more brown tones than most charcoals I've seen.

The Running Foals are a particular favorite, not least with those cute Copperfoxes.

 This particular horse, visible in the bottom corner of photo 1 and photo'd here on the carpet, is unique.  He is very heavy, being solidly filled with resin.  Another with the same technology is the blue Rearing Stallion lying down at the end (above).  Their weight makes it impractical for them to stand (the legs bend).  Some of Breyer's ideas just didn't work out...!

After some thought I'm leaving this next shot as it came out, despite cutting off all those legs.  I like how the Kelly turned out.  :)

A impressive conga of Classic-scale Man O' Wars.  Without, should I point out, the solid-gold one of 2023.

And we're back where we started.  Breathless.

What a privilege it has been to aim a lens at this immense collection.  I am inspired and grateful.  Thank you, Kelly, so much.