c. 1880
H 132 x W 90 x D 53 cm
Collection: Private Collector
The Mansion started life as a chest of drawers.
The fine furniture dates from about 1880 – 1900. The chest of drawers and the conversion to a doll house are highly likely to be the work of local craftsmen. The furniture is chiefly German.
The collector purchased the house first and when German doll house furniture appeared for auction a few weeks later, she knew that the settings were appropriate for the number of rooms and scale of the Mansion. She believed that after the owner died, the house and furniture were split between members of the next generation.
German Doll Furniture
Germany was a major source of quality toys at this time. At the Centennial Exhibition of 1889 - 1890 observers noted that in the German Court ‘We see dolls with elegant trousseaux, perfectly appointed dolls' houses, Noah's arks innumerable, stables and dairies … rocking horses and so on through all the family of toys.’
