Small but perfectly formed
FOR a glimpse of 1920s entertaining at the smartest level, treat yourself to an inspection of Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House. On display at Windsor Castle, this miniature delight offers a perfect time capsule of aristocratic life between the wars, including the finest craftsmanship that enabled both functional tasks and the serious business of leisure.
The dolls’ house was created as a gift from the nation to Queen Mary, consort of George V, but was also intended as a high-profile showcase for British workmanship. The King’s cousin, Princess Marie Louise, came up with the idea and recruited her friend, the pre-eminent architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, to help fulfil it to the highest standard. The result brought together the efforts of 250 craftsmen and manufacturers, 60 artistdecorators, 700 artists, 600 writers and 500 donors. When it was unveiled for the Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924, the dolls’ house attracted more than 1.5 million people over seven months.
This ‘off duty’ Royal residence is more than 3ft tall, its contents designed on a scale of 1:12, or one inch to one foot. Remarkable ambition and attention to detail are evident everywhere, from the flushing loo to the electric lights and working lifts. On a more ornate level, there are in excess of 700 watercolours by contemporary artists of the day, 50 original music scores contributed by the likes of Gustav Holst and Frederick Delius, and 200 books handwritten by the greatest literary names of the time, from Rudyard Kipling and John Buchan to AA Milne and JM Barrie. Not everyone was keen to lend their talent to the project: George Bernard Shaw declined the honour, while Sir Edward Elgar was said to be outraged at the idea of wasting his energy on something so ‘trivial’. The works that were submitted more than make up for any absences, however, with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle presenting a particularly intriguing 500-word short story entitled How Watson Learned The Trick.
Alongside books, the walnut-panelled library contained every conceivable entertainment for an Edwardian gentleman: a snakeskin book of fishing flies from Hardy Brothers; a pair of Purdey shotguns (they break and load but do not fire) complete with cartridge bag and cartridges; Dunhill tobacco; and a chess table made of rosewood and ivory that is an exact miniature copy of the Chippendale original now in the V&A Museum.
The walls and ceilings continue this intricate theme. Edmund Dulac painted chinoiserie fairy tales around the day nursery, while the ceiling of the King’s wardrobe displays female nudes by Wilfrid de Gelhn. American illustrator George Plank took charge of the King’s bedroom ceiling, the garden trellis scene of which subtly incorporates the notes to the first line of the National Anthem.
The key role of cellar master fell to Francis Berry of London merchant Berry Brothers & Rudd. He filled 66 dozen bottles with real drops of the era’s finest wines, including 1904 Romanée-conti, 1851 Cockburn, 1874 Château d’yquem, 1875 Château Lafite and 1820 Bual Madeira. The challenge of feeding liquid into the tiny neck of a 26mm-high bottle required a special pipette, although in a rare example of compromise champagnes, such as 1906 Veuve Clicquot, had to have their fizz removed first.
The astonishing attention to detail continues outside, where influential garden designer Gertrude Jekyll ensured every plant and tree was exactly to scale and botanically correct. A petrol-driven lawnmower from CH Pugh is the first hint of the mechanical prowess hidden in the five-bay garage. Here, all clad in the maroon and black royal colours, sit a custom-built Daimler, Lanchester, Rollsroyce, Sunbeam and Vauxhall.
All in all, Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House is a captivating project that amply fulfils the vision of its creators. One wonders, if anyone were bold enough to embark on a similar venture today, how many of these superlative examples of British craftsmanship would still make the cut – and, indeed, which new names would appear.
He filled 66 dozen bottles with drops of the era’s finest wines