Ann Sharp's house dates from 1695, and is the oldest surviving English baby house. Could this be the oldest surviving dolls house for a dolls house?
Update: Christine and Beatrice asked on facebook about the size of this tiny dolls' house. Flora Gill Jacobs, in A History of Dolls' Houses, gives the height of the whole house: 5' 10" (so 70", or about 1.78m). The house has four storeys, including an attic - I think that this room would be about 18 1/3" high (or 46.8 cm). (The attic and basement have less height than the two main floors, so this room is probably a bit more than a quarter of the total height.) As you can see, this dolls house is almost half the height of the room, which would make it about 9" high. I've been trying to work out the scale. I think the rooms being represented here (in Ann Sharp's house and the dolls' house dolls' house) are a bit over 12 1/2 feet high. So I think the scale of the little house is about 1/44th. (Corrections welcomed!)
Flora Gill Jacobs quotes a Mrs Willoughby Hodgson, who in 1917 wrote an article about Ann Sharp's baby house for The Connoisseur . The dolls' house is, Mrs Hodgson says, made of and furnished with cardboard (though Halina Pasierbska says it's paper, and thinks Ann Sharp probably made it herself).
The tiny prints which adorn its walls are believed to represent Bishopthorpe [residence of the Archbishop of York], with the church in the grounds, and the furniture includes a grandfather clock, flap tables, footstools, a slung looking-glass, dressing tables, kitchen stove and dresser, and many other articles.
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Wow that is soooooooooooooo cool. Thanks for sharing! Makes me think! CM
ReplyDeleteIs fantastic! thank you for sharing us! greetings
ReplyDeleteHi Rebecca! I am just reading through Pasierbska's book on dolls houses from the V&A, and there is a photo of the Sharp House, but it is not close up enough to see the detail of the tiny house! How cool! I did notice in the same photo that there appears to be an actual small dolls house up in the attic on the floor above. If you don't have the book, I can scan a picture for you.
ReplyDeleteHi CM, thanks! Will we see something on your blog, perhaps, as a result of your thinking? ;-)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Paky! I think it's fantastic, too. Greetings to you from Australia :-)
ReplyDeleteHi callsmall, I have that book on order too! When TSS posted that she'd seen it remaindered in a Canberra bookstore, I ordered it straightaway. So I'll have a feast of Pasierbska books soon - I've been meaning to buy one for ages! I'll keep an eye out for the dolls house in the attic. Isn't it great that the books show different details of the same houses?
ReplyDeleteWow, I'm really in love with this house in the house. Is there perhaps a house in the house in the house, but we don't see it.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, katimus read the book "Through the dollshouse-door", but for me it was too hard. I had to translate one word in nearly every sentence. That's life!
I don't like the old houses so much, but this is adorable! Thank you for sharing and Greetings from Germany to all you dollhousegang-members!
It is poignant to think the little girl who played with these toys is dust, and her toys have to linger on without her. The tiny dolls house in the dolls house makes me think of Russian nesting dolls.
ReplyDeletePerhaps there is, Oese! I'd love to see it in real life one day, and then maybe I'd be able to see ...
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you found "Through the dolls-house door" too hard - I know what you mean about having to look up so many words! It's not an easy book, even though it's for children - apart from the words, you don't realise that one of the dolls is invisible (or imaginary?) until right at the end. Greetings from Australia! :-)
Lynne, indeed - the little girl who played with it, and the people who made it. This little girl left the imprint of her imagination more firmly on her toys than many - all the dolls are named and identified (nursemaid, butler, etc) - you can see a label pinned to the front of the doll.
ReplyDeleteHave you read Jane Gardam's "Through the Dolls House Door"? The dolls house and dolls in that get left behind in a move and forgotten, and rediscovered when the girls are grown up - and we hear it from the dolls point of view, as well as the girls'. And one of the little girls wanted a dolls house in the dolls house in the dolls house - as one of the dolls said, it makes me dizzy thinking about it!
Dear Rebecca, every time I read your blog, I get an idea (or two) for a story. Your passion brings the history of these doll houses to life!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read that book, but I will kept an eye out for it.
That's wonderful, Lynne! Dolls house bloggers often inspire each other - how lovely that you can take inspiration for creating in another medium :-)
ReplyDeleteHi again callsmall, I have the Pasierbska book now, and I can see that tiny dolls house in the attic! Also a miniature theatre. I wonder if it is as old as this one? It looks printed, perhaps? which I would think might make it of a later date. Intriguing!
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