German Room Box

  

  Room boxes revealing layers of history.  

This German room box was acquired by the previous owner in 1935 and brought with her when she emigrated to Australia. She recalled it being passed down from her older siblings or aunts.  

The house has two rooms side by side and came with bathroom furnishings for an additional room. The house has been identified as possibly manufactured by Gottschalk due to the wooden columns on the front of each wall. Gottschalk’s one-room general stores and kitchens usually featured these with a variety of patterns and capitals (top of the column).  

This puppenstube, meaning doll’s room, follows the style of the Nuremberg kitchen doll house. These were usually a single room, predominantly the kitchen, with the front wall and ceiling missing to allow easy access and a good view of the interior. The Nuremberg kitchens were thought to be a special toy, a miniature aesthetically charming kitchen, brought out at Christmas time, to encourage mothers and daughters to share and seek the traditional role of homemakers.  

The interiors and furnishings of this room box are a mix of traditional and modern styling. The ‘abstract’ wallpaper in the salon contrasts with the age and style of furnishings such as the lamp. The room box possibly evolved as it was passed on to different family members and new owners.