London calling
Moi Ali visits a world-class dolls house collection in London.
Moi Ali visits a world-class dolls house collection in London, the Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood.
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London in famous across the globe for its world-class collection of furniture and decorative arts. What is less known is that it has an equally awesome collection of dolls houses - over a hundred in total. They are displayed in a lovely Victorian building on the other side of the city, the V&A Museum of Childhood. Here you will find not only dolls houses, but also toys and games of yesteryear. The museum houses the United Kingdom’s national collection of childhood-related objects, one of the finest in the world.
My favourite in the collection is a little boulangerie patisserie which is so evocative of Paris. What is effectively just a room box exuding charm. Despite its vintage appearance it dates only to 1980. The butcher’s shop is also very sweet. It is typical of educational toys made in the Victorian era. For some reason butchers’ shops were very popular, complete with carcasses of meat and somewhat gruesome looking chopping blocks!
Another favorite is the very grandiose villa made in 1889 by a Thomas Risley and possibly inspired by a real house. I adore the little lean-to conservatory at the side, so typical of British houses of that era. It is believed to be a model rather than a plaything and much attention has been given to the architectural detail balustrades, metal railings, fancy slates, finials and decorative barge boards.
Most of the dolls houses come with a reallife story. For example, Devonshire Villas was built in 1900 by a carpenter and would
have cost a great deal to make. It is based on a real house in Kilburn, London, which no longer exists and is decorated and furnished in the very latest style for the time. Many of the features, such as the fitted bathroom, the double sink in the kitchen and the telephone in the hall were very modern for the era. The bathroom walls have ‘sanitary’ wallpaper which is coated to be washable – a new invention back then.
A gift from a father to his daughter, the little girl recipient made the carpets, lampshades and upholstery in the bedroom and drawing room. Later the granddaughter also played with the house. As an adult she gifted it to the museum in 1972. More than a century after this dolls house was created, it is still providing joy to children young and old!
May Foster’s grand town house is a hundred years older than Devonshire Villas and also comes with a history. Dating to around 1800, it was owned by the daughters of John Foster, a wealthy engineer who ran Liverpool Docks. This house has triangular pediments and Greek urns along the roof. One of the Foster sons travelled to Greece and worked with archaeologists, discovering ancient ruins. He later designed many of Liverpool’s grand public buildings.
Although the dolls house is said to be a model of the Foster family home and it does resemble that house, the miniature version is grander. When she grew up, May Foster married the mayor of Liverpool. Her sister
Isabella married a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. Isabella had several children and the dolls house eventually passed to her great-granddaughter, who donated it to the museum in 1925. It had become a family heirloom, having been in the family for 120 years and was looked after very well by successive generations of children.
Mrs Bryant’s Pleasure also has a fascinating history. It was custom-made for Mrs Ann Bryant in about 1865. Believed to be modelled on her own London suburban house, Oakenshaw, the beautifully carved rosewood and mahogany furniture, rich upholstery and wallpapers and carpets are typical of a conservative, middle class household of that time. There are a few mass-produced items – such as lacquered trays in the kitchen – but most of the furniture is unique, probably commissioned from a skilled cabinet-maker.
This is one of the earliest houses in the collection to feature photographs. The many small black and white prints may well be of Mrs Bryant’s grandchildren. Photography studios had opened on high streets across the country by the 1860s, and Mrs Bryant appears to have been an enthusiastic participant in this new craze.
The most unusual exhibit is not a dolls house at all - it’s a mountain of them! Rachel Whiteread’s celebrated artwork Place (Village) (2006-2008) is a sculptural work featuring a ‘community’ of around 150 dolls houses which were collected by Whiteread over two decades. And I thought I had a big collection!
The large-scale artwork is an assembly of vintage dolls houses in a variety of architectural styles, including models by leading makers such as Lundby and Triang.
The houses sit on stepped platforms, evoking a sprawling hillside ‘community’. Lit from within, the houses are deserted: the lights are on, but no one’s at home! This creates a thought-provoking installation. It is not often that a dolls house exhibition leaves one reflecting on life, locality and community!
The best bit about this museum is without doubt the dolls houses, but the antique and vintage toys and games are worth a look – and as the museum offers free entry, this is a day out that won’t break the bank and offers something to look forward to as life slowly returns to normal after the pandemic!
INFO
V&A Museum of Childhood Cambridge Heath Road London E2 9PA