doll's house

Summary

Public: Georgian style doll's house with four floors. The front half of the house, which is hinged, has 6 sash windows, two rows of three. The house has a central staircase from the ground floor to the top of the house. The lower section of the house has a set of steps leading to a green front door with a metal handle. Fluted columns either side of the door support a small entablature, with railings running from the columns to the house. The door is framed on both sides with two sash windows, one set being partly hidden by the garden section. Interior has four floors, with two rooms on each floor and a central staircase. Each room has a window on the rear wall, a fireplace and a door on the inside wall that opens in to the stairwell. The lower-ground floor has two kitchens, the ground floor has a dining room and a sitting room, the first floor has a music room and another sitting room and the second floor consists of two bedrooms. Private: Georgian style doll's house with four floors (including below stairs), removable lower front section and garden section, open at the back. Black pitched roof with chimney on right, left chimney missing. The front half of the house, which is hinged, has 6 sash windows, two rows of three, the top left window's bottom section is missing. The house has a central staircase with red/brown carpet from the ground floor to the top of the house, the lower part being uncarpeted. A white clock is attached to wall in the stairwell. The rooms on the lower floor have fitted cupboards and drawers, the room on the right has a removable metal grate in the fireplace. The lower section of the house has a set of steps leading to a green front door with a metal handle. Fluted columns either side of the door support a small entablature, with railings running from the columns to the house. The door is framed on both sides with two sash windows, one set being partly hidden by the garden section. The bottom right and the top left windows are damaged. The garden section has a central wide pathway with green areas on either side, on to which are fixed two circular imitation flowers beds. The bed on the right is missing, the one on the left consists of brown fabric topped with feathers imitating foliage. Interior has four floors, with two rooms on each floor and a central staircase. Each room has a window on the rear wall, a fireplace and a door on the inside wall that opens in to the stairwell. Room 1: Bedroom painted yellow and the doors are painted white, the floor is painted brown with a blue rectangular section in the centre. With wall on the left is panelled. Room 2: Bedroom with same floor as in the first bedroom, wallpapered with white flowers on yellow ground. Room 3: Sitting room with floor painted white, the doors and windows are left natural wood colour. Walls papered with white and grey vertical stripes. Room 4: Music room with floor painted brown and walls covered in a dark green-brown leafy design. Doors are left natural wood colour as in the previous room. Room 5: sitting room with floor painted brown with a central rectangular section painted white. Walls with panelling painted blue and ochre, doors left natural. Room 6: dining room with white floor and walls papered with block-printed white and off white pattern. On the right hand wall there is an arched recess that is papered in pink and red floral pattern. Room 7: Kitchen with floor painted brown, with yellow walls and doors painted a buff colour. On the left hand side there is a fitted cupboard also painted buff with two drawers and shelves. Room 8 is also a kitchen and is similar to the other kitchen and mirrors the room. The stairwell is papered with yellow flowers on a black ground, stairs painted buff, rails left natural with red velvet carpet up the stairs and doors opening into each room.

Display Label

Dolls House Made in England about 1850-1860 Mixed media A house, more than a diary, is the intimate glimpse. A house is a life interrupted. Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces, 1997 Home is at the very centre of our lives, it is the space we make our own. Our houses speak volumes about who we are, our families and history, hopes and aspirations. It is where we keep our most precious belongings, for both private and public display. The idea of home can mean many things: shelter and safety or fear and imprisonment. The dolls house has been popular for centuries: played with by adults and children alike, it conjures up a whole private world in miniature. Gift of Mary Greg 1922.637