![Doll's house (AM 2003](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Doll%27s_house_%28AM_2003.99.12-1%29.jpg)
A dollhouse or doll's house is a
toy
A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...
home made in
miniature
A miniature is a small-scale reproduction, or a small version. It may refer to:
* Portrait miniature, a miniature portrait painting
* Miniature art, miniature painting, engraving and sculpture
* Miniature (chess), a masterful chess game or probl ...
. Since the early 20th century dollhouses have primarily been the domain of children, but their collection and crafting is also a
hobby
A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing Sport, sports, or pursu ...
for many adults. English-speakers in North America commonly use the term ''dollhouse'', but in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and other English-speaking countries the term is ''doll's house'' (or, less commonly, ''dolls' house''). They are often built to put
doll
A doll is a physical model, model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and ...
s in.
The history of today's dollhouses can be traced back about four hundred years to the ''baby house'' display cases of Europe, which showed idealized interiors. Smaller dollhouses with more realistic exteriors appeared in Europe in the 18th century. Early dollhouses were all hand made, but following the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
and
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, they were increasingly
mass-produced
Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and batch ...
and became more standardized and affordable. Dollhouses can range from simple boxes stacked together used as rooms for play, up to multi-million dollar structures displayed in museums.
Contemporary children's play dollhouses are mostly in 1:18 (or 2/3") scale, while 1:12 (or 1") scale is common for dollhouses made for adult collectors.
History
![DollHouse Image 1982](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/DollHouse_Image_1982.jpg)
Miniature homes, furnished with domestic articles and resident inhabitants, both people and animals, have been made for thousands of years. The earliest known examples were found in the
Egyptian tombs
The ancient Egyptians had an elaborate set of funerary practices that they believed were necessary to ensure their immortality after death. These rituals included mummifying the body, casting magic spells, and burials with specific grave goods ...
of the
Old Kingdom
In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700–2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth ...
, created nearly five thousand years ago. These wooden models of servants, furnishings, boats, livestock and pets placed in the Pyramids almost certainly were made for religious purposes.
The earliest known European dollhouses were the ''baby houses'' from the 16th century, which consisted of cabinet display cases made up of individual rooms. The term “baby” in baby house is coined from the old English word meaning doll. Dollhouses of this period showed idealized interiors complete with detailed furnishings and accessories. The cabinets were built by hand with architectural details, filled with miniature household items and were solely intended for adults. The baby moniker referred to the scale of the houses rather than the demographic it was aimed at. They were off-limits to children, not because of safety concerns for the child but to protect the dollhouse. Such cabinet houses
were trophy collections owned by the few matrons living in the cities of Holland, England and Germany who were wealthy enough to afford them and, fully furnished, were worth the price of a modest full-size house's construction.
![Doll's house from Petronella de la Court 1670-1690](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Doll%27s_house_from_Petronella_de_la_Court_1670-1690.jpg)
The earliest known recorded baby house was commissioned from 1557-1558 by
Albrecht V, Duke of Bavaria
Albert V (German: ''Albrecht V.'') (29 February 1528 – 24 October 1579) was Duke of Bavaria from 1550 until his death. He was born in Munich to William IV and Maria Jacobäa of Baden.
Early life
Albert was educated at Ingolstadt by Catholic ...
.
Smaller doll houses, such as the Tate house with more realistic exteriors, appeared in Europe in the 18th century.
Nuremberg kitchen
Nuremberg kitchen is the traditional English name for a specific type of dollhouse, similar to a room box, usually limited to a single room depicting a kitchen. The name references the city of Nuremberg, the center of the nineteenth-century German ...
s, a type of single-room dollhouse, date back at least to 1572, when one was given to
Dorothea
Dorothea (also spelled Dorothée, Dorotea or other variants) is a female given name from Greek (Dōrothéa) meaning "God's Gift". It may refer to:
People
* Dorothea Binz (1920–1947), German concentration camp officer executed for war cri ...
and
Anna
Anna may refer to:
People Surname and given name
* Anna (name)
Mononym
* Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke
* Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773)
* Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century)
* Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 12 ...
, the Princesses of Saxony, daughters of
Augustus, Elector of Saxony
Augustus (31 July 152611 February 1586) was Elector of Saxony from 1553 to 1586.
First years
Augustus was born in Freiberg, the youngest child and third (but second surviving) son of Henry IV, Duke of Saxony, and Catherine of Mecklenburg. He cons ...
aged five and ten.
The early European dollhouses were each unique, constructed on a custom basis by individual craftsmen. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, factories began mass producing toys, including dollhouses and miniatures suitable for furnishing them. German companies noted for their dollhouses included Christian Hacker,
Moritz Gottschalk Moritz is the German equivalent of the name Maurice (given name), Maurice. It may refer to:
People Given name
* Saint Maurice, also called Saint Moritz, the leader of the legendary Roman Theban Legion in the 3rd century
* Prince Moritz of Hess ...
,
Elastolin
Elastolin is a trademark used by the German company O&M Hausser (O&M Haußer) for the toy soldiers and other types of figures it manufactured from composite material and later from plastic. The Hausser firm was founded in 1904 by Christian Hausse ...
, and Moritz Reichel. The list of important English companies includes Silber & Fleming, Evans & Cartwright, and
Lines Brothers (which became Tri-ang). By the end of the 19th century American dollhouses were being made in the United States by The Bliss Manufacturing Company. In France, the Deauville dollhouses were made by the manufacturer Villard & Weill in the first quarter of the 20th century.
Germany produced the most prized dollhouses and doll house miniatures up until
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The doll houses were produced in
Nuremberg, Germany
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ci ...
; which, since the sixteenth century, was coined as the 'toy city'. Their baby houses were thought to be the origin for the basic standards of contemporary doll houses.
Notable German miniature companies included
Märklin
Gebr. Märklin & Cie. GmbH or Märklin (MÄRKLIN or MAERKLIN in capital letters) is a German toy company. The company was founded in 1859 and is based at Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg. Although it originally specialised in doll house accesso ...
, Rock and Graner and others. Their products were not only avidly collected in Central Europe, but regularly exported to Britain and North America. Germany's involvement in WWI seriously impeded both production and export. New manufacturers arose in other countries.
France produced the dollhouses known as Deauville Dollhouses. They were made by the VILLARD & WEILL company, mainly between 1905 and 1925. This toys manufacturer won prices in Sydney, Paris and St Louis World Fairs.
The TynieToy Company of Providence, Rhode Island, made authentic replicas of American antique houses and furniture in a uniform scale beginning in about 1917. Other American companies of the early 20th century were Roger Williams Toys,
Tootsietoy
Tootsietoy is a manufacturer of die cast toy cars and other toy vehicles which was originally based in Chicago, Illinois. Though the Tootsietoy name has been used since the 1920s, the company's origins date from about 1890. An enduring marque, toy ...
, Schoenhut, and the Wisconsin Toy Co. Dollhouse dolls and miniatures were also produced in Japan, mostly by copying original German designs.
After World War II, dollshouses were mass-produced in factories on a much larger scale with less detailed craftsmanship than before. By the 1950s, the typical dollhouse sold commercially was made of painted
sheet metal
Sheet metal is metal formed into thin, flat pieces, usually by an industrial process. Sheet metal is one of the fundamental forms used in metalworking, and it can be cut and bent into a variety of shapes.
Thicknesses can vary significantly; ex ...
filled with plastic furniture. Such houses cost little enough that the great majority of girls from the developed western countries which were not struggling with rebuilding after World War II could own one.
Standard scales
The baby houses of the 17th and 18th centuries, and the toy dollhouses of the 19th and early 20th century rarely had uniform scales, even for the features or contents of any individual house. Although a number of manufacturers made lines of miniature toy furniture in the 19th century, the products were not made to a strict scale.
Children's play dollhouses from most of the 20th and 21st centuries are
1:18 or two third inch scale (where 1 foot is represented by 2/3 of an inch). Common brands include
Lundby (Sweden), Renwal, Plasco,
Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 p ...
, Petite Princess, and T. Cohn (all American) and Caroline's Home, Barton, Dol-Toi and
Tri-ang (English). A few brands use 1:16 or 3/4"-scale.
The most common standard for adult collectors is
1:12 scale, also called 1" or one inch scale (where 1 foot is represented by 1 inch.) Among adult collectors there are also smaller scales which are much more common in the United States than in Britain.
1:24 or half inch scale (1 foot is 1/2") was popular in Marx dollhouses in the 1950s but only became widely available in collectible houses after 2002, about the same time that even smaller scales became more popular, like
1:48 or quarter inch scale (1 foot is 1/4") and
1:144 or "dollhouse for a dollhouse" scale. 1/24th scale dolls houses, and those in smaller scales, may be considered as just one species of miniature houses of this size. 1/24th (or the almost indistinguishable 1/25th) is used for a variety of models including display models and what are coming to be known as 'house portraits'. These typically focus on the exterior detail rather than the rooms inside, though there is no reason why a dolls house should not have a realistic exterior or a house portrait include interior details.
In Germany during the middle part of the 20th century 1:10 scale became popular based on
the metric system. Dollhouses coming out of Germany today remain closer in scale to 1:10 than 1:12.
The largest common size for dollhouses is 1:6 which is proportionate for
Barbie
Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration.
...
,
Ken
Ken or KEN may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer.
* ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film.
* ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine.
* Ken Masters, a main character in ...
,
Blythe The name Blythe ( or ) derives from Old English ''bliþe'' ("joyous, kind, cheerful, pleasant"; modern ''blithe''), and further back from Proto-Germanic ''*blithiz'' ("gentle, kind").
People
* Blythe (given name), including a list of people named ...
and other dolls 11-12 inches tall, and furniture and accessories such as
Re-Ment
, located in Chiyoda Tokyo, is a Japanese manufacturer of collectible plastic toys. The company's name is derived from a combination of the phrase "reform the entertainment", alluding to their desire for innovation in the toy market. Establis ...
.
Construction
![OKWA dolls house 1974](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/OKWA_dolls_house_1974.jpg)
In the United States, most houses have an open back and a fancy facade, while British houses are more likely to have a hinged front that opens to reveal the rooms.
Children's dollhouses during the 20th century have been made from a variety of materials, including metal (
tin litho), fibreboard, plastic, and wood. With the exception of
Lundby, 1:18 scale furniture for children's dollhouses has most often been made of plastic.
Contemporary kit and fully built houses are typically made of
plywood
Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...
or
medium-density fiberboard
Medium-density fibreboard (MDF) is an engineered wood product made by breaking down hardwood or softwood residuals into wood fibres, often in a defibrator, combining it with wax and a resin binder, and forming it into panels by applying high te ...
(MDF). Tab-and-slot kits use a thinner plywood and are held together by a system of tabs and slots (plus glue). These houses are usually light-weight and lower cost but often require siding, shingles, or other exterior treatments to look realistic. Kits made from heavier plywood or MDF are held together with nails and glue.
As a hobby
The dolls house hobby has two main focuses: construction and/or purchase of dolls houses made by or for adult enthusiasts, and collection of contemporary, vintage or antique dolls houses which were often originally made for children.
Dolls houses made by or for adult enthusiasts
Dollhouses for hobbyists and collectors are available in different forms, from ready made and decorated houses to kits to custom built houses made to the customer's design. Some design and build their own dollhouse. Simpler designs might consist of boxes stacked together and used as rooms. Miniature objects used for decoration inside dollhouses include
furniture
Furniture refers to movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (tables), storing items, eating and/or working with an item, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Fu ...
,
interior decoration
Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordina ...
s,
doll
A doll is a physical model, model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and ...
s and items like
book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...
s, couches, furniture, wallpaper, and even
clock
A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and the ...
s. Some of these are available ready made, some are kits but may also be homemade.
Dozens of miniature trade shows are held by various miniature organizations and enthusiasts throughout the year, where artisans and dealers display and sell miniatures. Often, how-to seminars and workshops are part of the show features. Stores that sell miniatures also hold classes. Enthusiasts share images online and use Internet forums, blogs and other online social media to share information about dollhouses and miniatures.
Collection of vintage or antique dolls houses
Recognition of the value and enjoyment of collecting vintage and antique dolls houses as a hobby is due largely to the publications of two experts,
Vivien Greene (1904-2003) in the UK, and Flora Gill Jacobs (1918-2006) in the US. Vivien Greene's first book, ''English Dolls' Houses of the 18th and 19th Centuries'', was published in 1955; in the same year, an exhibition of period dolls houses from several countries was held in London. Flora Gill Jacobs' first book, ''A History of Dolls’ Houses'', was published in 1953. Both collectors opened museums dedicated to dolls houses, the Rotunda (1962-1998) in
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, England, and the Washington Dolls’ House & Toy Museum (1975-2004), in
Washington D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
, US.
Through print publications such as the ''International Dolls' House News'' (c 1969-2002) ''American Miniaturist'', and ''Dolls House and Miniature Scene'', collectors around the world shared photos, tips, queries and information; today, websites, blogs, social media, and online forums allow even more collectors to share their hobby.
Notable dollhouses
Queen Mary's Dolls' House
Queen Mary's Dolls' House is a dollhouse built in the early 1920s, completed in 1924, for Queen Mary, the wife of King George V. It was designed by architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, with contributions from many notable artists and craftsmen of the ...
was designed for
Queen Mary in 1924 by Sir
Edwin Lutyens
Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memori ...
, a leading architect of the time, and is on display at
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history.
The original cast ...
. When first put on display it was visited by 1.6 million people in seven months.
It is approximately 5' tall, contains 16 rooms, and required 4 years to construct. The dollhouse has working plumbing and lights and is filled with miniature items of the finest and most modern goods of the period. Writers like
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for '' A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...
and
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work.
...
contributed special books which were written and bound in scale size.
The
Stettheimer Dollhouse The Stettheimer Dollhouse is a two-story, twelve-room dollhouse, created by Carrie Walter Stettheimer (1869-1944) over the course of two decades, from 1916 to 1935. It contains miniature art made for the dollhouse by artists like Marcel Duchamp, Al ...
was constructed in New York City by Carrie Walter Stettheimer between 1916 and 1935. Many contemporary artists made miniatures of their art for the dollhouse, including
Marcel Duchamp
Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...
,
Alexander Archipenko
Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko (also referred to as Olexandr, Oleksandr, or Aleksandr; uk, Олександр Порфирович Архипенко, Romanized: Olexandr Porfyrovych Arkhypenko; February 25, 1964) was a Ukrainian and American ...
,
George Bellows
George Wesley Bellows (August 12 or August 19, 1882 – January 8, 1925) was an American realism, American realist painting, painter, known for his bold depictions of urban life in New York City. He became, according to the Columbus Museum of Art ...
,
Gaston Lachaise
Gaston Lachaise (March 19, 1882 – October 18, 1935) was a French-born sculptor, active in the early 20th century. A native of Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 re ...
, and
Marguerite Zorach. It is 28" high and contains 12 rooms, and is now located at the Museum of the City of New York. The 68 miniature ''
Thorne Rooms''
room box
A room box is a display box used for three-dimensional miniature scale environments, or scale models. Although the name would suggest room boxes generally only represent typical rooms such as those found in houses or other buildings (bedrooms, ki ...
es, each with a different theme, were designed by
Narcissa Niblack Thorne
Narcissa Niblack Thorne (May 2, 1882 – June 25, 1966) was an American artist known for her extremely detailed miniature rooms. Her works depict historical interiors from Europe, Asia and North America from the late 13th to the early 20th ce ...
and furniture for them was created by craftsmen in the 1930s and 40s. They are now at the
Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
,
Phoenix Art Museum
The Phoenix Art Museum is the largest museum for visual art in the southwest United States. Located in Phoenix, Arizona, the museum is . It displays international exhibitions alongside its comprehensive collection of more than 18,000 works of ...
and the
Knoxville Museum of Art
The Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA), is an art museum in Knoxville, Tennessee. It specializes in historical and contemporary art pieces from the East Tennessee region. According to its mission statement, the museum "celebrates the art and artists o ...
in Knoxville, Tennessee.
![Courtesy of Dr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Courtesy_of_Dr._Michael_and_Lois_Freeman.JPG)
American silent film actress
Colleen Moore's dollhouse is called the ''Fairy Castle''. It is 7' tall, has twelve rooms, and required 7 years to construct, beginning in 1928. In 2012 dollars, the fairy Castle would cost $7 million and when first put on tour it generated $9 million in revenue over a four-year period. It has been on display since the 1950s at the
Museum of Science and Industry in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
and is visited by an estimated 1.5 million people each year.
The
Astolat Dollhouse Castle was inspired by
Alfred Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...
's poetry about the
Lady of the Lake
The Lady of the Lake (french: Dame du Lac, Demoiselle du Lac, cy, Arglwyddes y Llyn, kw, Arloedhes an Lynn, br, Itron al Lenn, it, Dama del Lago) is a name or a title used by several either fairy or fairy-like but human enchantresses in the ...
and built between 1974 and 1987 by miniaturist Elaine Diehl. It was appraised over $1 million in 2006 and at $8.5 million in 2015 primarily because of the upgrade to the interiors and pieces. It is 9' tall, has 29 rooms and is on display at the
Nassau County Museum of Art
The Nassau County Museum of Art (NCMA) is located east of New York City on the former Frick "Clayton" Estate, a property in Roslyn Harbor in the heart of Long Island’s Gold Coast. The main museum building, named in honor of art collectors a ...
on Long Island, New York.
The Colleen Moore fairy Castle Dollhouse and the Astolat Dollhouse Castle were designed with fixed contiguous exterior walls to create a three-dimensional viewing effect.
Titania's Palace Titania's Palace is a miniature castle (dollhouse) that was hand-built in Ireland by James Hicks & Sons, Irish Cabinet Makers, who were commissioned by Sir Nevile Wilkinson from 1907 to 1922. Wilkinson's daughter Guendolen claimed to have seen a fa ...
is on display in
Egeskov Castle
Egeskov Castle ( da, Egeskov Slot) is located near Kværndrup, in the south of the island of Funen, Denmark. The castle is Europe's best preserved Renaissance water castle.
History
Egeskov was first mentioned in 1405. The castle structure was er ...
in
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
, a miniature castle that was hand-built by James Hicks & Sons, Irish Cabinet Makers who were commissioned by Sir
Neville Wilkinson
Major Sir Nevile Rodwell Wilkinson, KCVO (26 October 1869 – 22 December 1940), was a British officer of arms, British Army officer, author and a dollhouse designer.
Early life and military career
Wilkinson was born in Highgate, Middlesex, t ...
from 1907 to 1922. The palace is 4' 1" tall, contains 18 rooms, and required 15 years to construct. It was built in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
but was won by Denmark in a bidding war in 1978 at Sotheby's London Auction house. ''Tara's Palace'' is located in the
Tara's Palace Museum of Childhood
Powerscourt Estate ( ga, Eastát Chúirt an Phaoraigh), located in Enniskerry, County Wicklow, Ireland, is a large country estate which is noted for its house and landscaped gardens, today occupying . The house, originally a 13th-century castle ...
in the grounds of
Powerscourt Estate
Powerscourt Estate ( ga, Eastát Chúirt an Phaoraigh), located in Enniskerry, County Wicklow, Ireland, is a large country estate which is noted for its country house, house and landscaped gardens, today occupying . The house, originally a 13th ...
near
Enniskerry
Enniskerry (historically ''Annaskerry'', from ) is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. The population was 1,889 at the 2016 census.
Location
The village is situated on the Glencullen River in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains in the ea ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. It required 10 years to build, is 4'6" in height, contains 22 rooms, and was built by Ron McDonnell beginning in 1978 after he failed to secure the return of
Titania's Palace Titania's Palace is a miniature castle (dollhouse) that was hand-built in Ireland by James Hicks & Sons, Irish Cabinet Makers, who were commissioned by Sir Nevile Wilkinson from 1907 to 1922. Wilkinson's daughter Guendolen claimed to have seen a fa ...
to Ireland. It is furnished with miniature antiques.
![Dollhouse Frans Hals Museum 6112012 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Dollhouse_Frans_Hals_Museum_6112012_1.jpg)
Other older and notable dollhouses include the Amsterdam, Netherlands 18th century dollhouses of
Sara Rothé; one is in the
Frans Hals Museum
The Frans Hals Museum is a museum located in Haarlem, the Netherlands.
The museum was established in 1862. In 1950, the museum was split in two locations when the collection of modern art was moved to the '' Museum De Hallen'' (since 2018 called ...
, and one is in the
Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
The Kunstmuseum Den Haag is an art museum in The Hague in the Netherlands, founded in 1866 as the Museum voor Moderne Kunst. Later, until 1998, it was known as Haags Gemeentemuseum, and until the end of September 2019 as Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. I ...
; and the dollhouse of
Petronella Oortman in the
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the Ste ...
. The Rijksmuseum estimates that P. Oortman spent twenty to thirty thousand guilders on her miniature house, which was nearly the price of a real house along one of Amsterdam's canals at that time. All three dollhouses shows the linen room (laundry room), kitchen, and bedrooms in great detail.
In the United Kingdom, the ''Uppark Baby-house'' (ca. 1730) is on exhibit at
Uppark
Uppark is a 17th-century house in South Harting, West Sussex, England. It is a Grade I listed building and a National Trust property.
History
The house, set high on the South Downs, was built for Ford Grey (1655—1701), the first Earl of ...
, West Sussex, owned by The National Trust. The ''Nostell Priory Baby-house'' (ca. 1730) is on exhibit at
Nostell Priory
Nostell Priory is a Palladian house in Nostell, West Yorkshire, England, near Crofton on the road to Doncaster from Wakefield. It dates from 1733, and was built for the Winn family on the site of a medieval priory. The Priory and its contents w ...
, Yorkshire, also owned by The National Trust. ''The Tate House'' (1760) is on exhibit in the
Museum of Childhood in
London, England
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...
.
In
Tampere
Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...
in
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
, the
Moomin Museum displays the ''Moomin house'', a dollhouse created around the
Moomin
The Moomins ( sv, Mumintroll) are the central characters in a series of novels, short stories, and a comic strip by Finns, Finnish writer and illustrator Tove Jansson, originally published in Swedish language, Swedish by Schildts in Finland. The ...
characters of
Tove Jansson
Tove Marika Jansson (; 9 August 1914 – 27 June 2001) was a Swedish-speaking population of Finland, Swedish-speaking Finnish author, novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. Brought up by artistic parents, Jansson studied art from ...
. The house was built by Jansson, Tuulikki Pietilä and Pentti Eistola and later donated to the town of Tampere.
The museum also contains dozens of roomboxes with Moomin characters, all made by Tuulikki Pietilä. The
Dollhouse Museum
The Dollhouse Museum ( German: ''Puppenhausmuseum'') in Basel is the largest museum of its kind in Europe. Now known as the Spielzeug Welten Museum Basel (Toy Worlds Museum Basle). The museum is located at Barfüsserplatz in the city center.
Col ...
(german: Puppenhausmuseum) in
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
, Switzerland is the largest museum of its kind in Europe.
Anna Köferlin’s Nuremberg doll house, which was commissioned in 1631, was publicly displayed and advertised by Köferlin in the form of original verses composed on broadsheet.
In Russia, the most famous was one made for (1830s, now in the collection of
National Pushkin Museum
The National Pushkin Museum ( rus, Всероссийский музей А. С. Пушкина, r=Vsyerossiiskii muzei A. S. Pushkina - literally the 'All-Russian Museum of A. S. Pushkin') is a museum dedicated to the life and work of Russian poet ...
).
Women and doll houses
As interest in doll houses expanded during the seventeenth century, there was also a shift in the gender-oriented organization of the miniature houses towards a more feminine focus. There is a shift of viewing doll houses as a collectible “male-oriented artefact to a female-organized model of domesticity”.
Dutch doll houses resembled cabinets with separate compartments of fully furnished rooms than actual houses, which represented the domestic household, “through the inclusion of amply-stocked linen rooms and kitchens”.
Gallery
File:Maison de poupée de 1680 environ (5).jpg, French dollhouse, 17th-century
File:Casa di bambola della famiglia Bäumler di norimberga, 1650-1700 ca, 04 camera.JPG, Dollhouse interior with dolls, Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
, Germany, c. 1650–1700
File:Beatrix Potter, Two Bad Mice, Dolls house.png, Illustration of dolls and dollhouse, by Beatrix Potter
Helen Beatrix Potter (, 28 July 186622 December 1943) was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', which was he ...
, from ''The Tale of Two Bad Mice
''The Tale of Two Bad Mice'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, and published by Frederick Warne & Co. in September 1904. Potter took inspiration for the tale from two mice caught in a cage-trap in her cousin's home a ...
'', England, 1904
File:Dollhouse Mauritania 20th century BM Af1982 15 1a.jpg, Dollhouse made of clay, Mauritania
Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
, 20th century
File:Hollywoodschaukel Puppenhaus 1960er.jpg, Detail of dollhouse terrace, Germany, 1960s
File:Villard Weill Dollhouse.jpg, A Deauville Dollhouse, Villard & Weill, France - 1912
File:Early60sPB.jpg, Mass-produced Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
wooden dollhouse with wooden furniture, 1:18 scale, Lundby, 1961–64
File:Amy Carter poses with her doll house and cat, Misty Malarky Ying Yang - NARA - 177849.tif, Amy Carter
Amy Lynn Carter (born October 19, 1967) is the daughter of the thirty-ninth U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his First Lady of the United States, first lady Rosalynn Carter. Carter entered the limelight as a child when she lived in the White Hou ...
pictured in the White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
with an American dollhouse, 1978
File:Doll house-Germany style.JPG, Mass-produced German plastic Playmobil
Playmobil () is a German line of toys produced by the Brandstätter Group (Geobra Brandstätter GmbH & Co KG), headquartered in Zirndorf, Germany. The signature Playmobil toy is a tall (1:24 scale) human figure with a smiling face. A wide range ...
dollhouse, late 20th/early 21st century
See also
*
Mini Brands
References
External links
*
Dolls' housesat the
V&A Museum of Childhood
Young V&A, formerly the V&A Museum of Childhood, is a branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum (the "V&A"), which is the United Kingdom's national museum of applied arts. It is in Bethnal Green and is located on the Green itself in the East End ...
Kruger Collection- collection of dollhouse miniatures at the
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Universit ...
National Museum of Australia1930s doll's house modelled on a house in a children's novel.
Mini Treasures WikiGreat resource for Dollhouse builders and enthusiasts.
{{Authority control
Dolls
Scale modeling
Playscale miniaturism