Beatrix Potter’s Dolls’ House
Category
Furniture
Date
c. 1850
Materials
Pine, paper, textiles, soft metals and other materials
Measurements
750 x 690 x 380 mm; 390 mm (Height); 725 mm (Width); 435 mm (Depth)
Order this imageCollection
Hill Top, Cumbria
NT 641707
Caption
This fully furnished dolls' house contains items which appear in Beatrix Potter's 'The Tale of Two Bad Mice' (published in 1904), including the food that Hunca Munca and Tom Thumb steal, cutlery, saucepan, griddle, iron, bellows, cradle, birdcage and coal scuttle. Most of these pieces were bought from Hamley's, the London toy shop, by Norman Warne. Of his purchases, Beatrix said: 'The things will do beautifully; the ham's appearance is enough to cause indigestion. I am getting almost more treasures than I can squeeze into one book.'
Summary
A dolls’ house, possibly American, c. 1850. The exterior painted in red brick effect, the interior comprising three rooms over two floors. Beatrix Potter acquired the dolls’ house between 1938-39 from her friend Rebecca Owen, who lived in Hawkshead, after Rebecca moved to Italy. Beatrix furnished it with dolls’ house items. Some of these were given to her by Norman Warne, her publisher and later fiancé, around 1904, who bought them from Hamley’s toy shop and a toy store in Seven Dials in London. They were inspiration for 'The Tale of The Two Bad Mice' (1904). On 31 March 1939, Beatrix wrote in a letter to Hettie Douglas, ‘I had intended to put away some of the downstairs things in the doll’s house and have one room for all the “Two bad mice.”’ There are accounts that children from Beatrix’s village played with the dolls’ house, and possibly her nieces too. The dolls’ house may have previously been played with by American children, as little letters, embossed with the address of a New York printer, were found in the grandfather clock.
Full description
The dolls’ house contains: Drawing room: flower pot, piano, stool, chest of drawers, chest of drawers, mantel clock, flower pot, MS note by HBH, two circular portraits of Beatrix and Hilda Moore, press, basket of flowers, circular table, two albums, snuffers and tray, cruet, jug, tray, bottle, plate-rack, sofa, three chairs and one armchair, table on scrolled support, tea-service (tray, tea pot, jug, bowl, two cups and saucers), lace table mat, two very small dolls, fire irons, scuttle, fender, brush and pan, pail, book, basket of beads, two small baskets, bird-cage, box of shells, press, clock, flower pot, radio/clock, vase, commode, clock, oval picture, oval picture, oblong picture, hanging oil lamp, crystal chandelier, tapestry carpet, tapestry mat; Kitchen: water can, butter churn, doll, high-back chair, grinder, chest of drawers, coal scuttle, range, cauldron, three chairs, two foam mice, table, four plates, a ham, a pie, three oranges, three pears, dish with lid, butler's tray with tools, dresser, drying pan, stew pan, kettle, pail, kettle, frying pan, tea pot, flat iron, toasting rack; Bedroom: jug and basin, dressing table, plate and goblet, two vases, oblong pierced table, round pierced table, chair, table, chest, wicker cradle, lace bedding, doll, dressing table, flowerpot, two chamber pots, bedstead, side-table, case, seaweed, crab-shell, eleven shells, doll's brush, two fans, face-screen, two double combs, 1842 coin, pair gloves, toothbrush, wool bonnet, fifteen buttons on cards.