Blast From The Past

On occasion we plan to offer a “Blast From The Past”, exhibits and miniatures that have gone above and beyond the average exhibit, usually done by a club or group of miniaturists with a variety of skills.

Our first of these is a replica of Mission San Jose, constructed by The Twelfth Nighters club to display at “Casa de Los Amigos”, the 1988 national NAME houseparty held in San Jose, California. The miniature, in 1:24 scale, has a place of pride in the Mission’s Museum.

Mission San Jose was founded in 1797 and dedicated in 1809. It is the 14th of 21 Spanish missions in Alta (Upper) California. Franciscan missionaries taught the local Ohlone Indians building and painting skills while teaching them Christianity. The main building was badly damaged in an 1868 earthquake, and reconstruction was completed in 1985.

The miniature is an amazingly accurate depiction, minus the pews. Thanks to Charlene Mirabella of Australia for the pictures. Double click to enlarge any picture.

Closer picture of Altar area

Side altar with painted pillars on wall,
as in the Mission itself

Longer range picture of altar, altar rail and chandelier.
Side altar is at the left.

Since the Mission is very long and narrow, the model was cut on a diagonal,
including one side altar but with good visibility of the  main altar. The other side
altar, therefore, was not included, nor the very front of the Mission.

Looking into the front of the model.
Mission walls were 4' thick adobe. Model used styrofoam walls under the adobe finish.

The Mission model from the rear