Inside History

Europe 19th century

A doll’s house

The doll’s house is surely one of the quintessential examples of what a toy means to us today, but it was not always this way. While the furnishing and customisation of a doll’s house remains a hobby for some grown ups today, they were originally the exclusive domain of adults before they were played with by children.

The origins of the doll’s house can be traced back to what the Germans called a Wunderkammer or ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ in the 17th century. In its earliest incarnation the ‘cabinet’ was actually an entire room rather than a piece of furniture, like a small museum full of trinkets and curiosities from around the world. These rooms were so popular that wealthy people began to put together collections of their own and place them in a more traditional cabinet for viewing.

At some point this began to evolve into the dockenhaus, or miniature house, that was designed to look like a residence on the outside but would be filled with miniature items, although it would not necessarily mimic a house’s interior.

The following century brought new innovations and the arrival of the ‘baby house’, which would be a direct replica of a wealthy lady’s home. Even at this point the house was an ornate piece of furniture rather than a toy. A great example of this is the Petronella Oortman doll’s house that can be viewed at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (and online).

It was at this point that the houses started being used not just as a conversation piece but as an educational tool for wealthy ladies to teach their daughters and new staff how a house should be run without the need for literacy. In the years that followed this connection between the doll’s house and children became more about play, evolving into what we know today.