Queen Victoria's Little Dolls - Part II

Following my blog post earlier this week, my friend Edel commented that she was lucky enough to own a copy of a book called 'Queen Victoria's Dolls' by Frances H. Low.

The book, was written in 1894 and each of Queen Victoria's dolls is beautifully illustrated in it by Alan Wright.

Edel was kind enough to send me photographs of the relevant illustrations from the book so that I could identify the dolls that I photographed in the Museum of London:

Mademoiselle Sylvie Leconte

Mademoiselle Leontine Héberle

Lady Sedley

Mademoiselle Proche

Mademoiselle Euphrosine Ancilin

For me, both the dolls and the illustrations are a feast for the eyes. Thank you very much, Edel!

[Added 8th January: You can see an interesting short video about the conservation of these dolls, posted on YouTube by 'Historic Royal Palaces', here.]

Until next time,
Zoe

More Miniatures at the Museum of London

Another bonus when we visited the Museum of London to see the Blackett Baby House was a cabinet full of dolls' house miniatures, on display next to the toy shop in the Victorian Walk (a mock-up in the museum of a Victorian street).

Who wouldn't love to have this two inch (5 cm) tall guilt bird cage containing a tiny glass bird to grace their dolls' house?

And we weren't expecting to see this fabulous and very rare Ladies Guild bed. Of course, I was with my friend Claire who is lucky enough to own one of these! 

This finely painted, turned wooden tea set from Germany is very drool-worthy...

...as are these tiny glass and stone-ware items.

And this...well, just heavenly! Sigh.

We did laugh though at this beautiful Evans & Cartwright fireplace which, for some strange reason, is displayed upside down!

Until next time,
Zoe

Queen Victoria's Little Dolls - Part I

As well as seeing the Blackett Baby House in the Museum of London, I was also thrilled to find a selection of Queen Victoria's childhood peg dolls on display there too.

The dolls in the selection we saw and which are shown below are all about 6 inches (15 cm) tall. They are nearly 200 years old!

I think it's well-known that Queen Victoria loved her little dolls.

Apparently she played with them until she was almost fourteen years old.

She often dressed them herself and they all had names.

This one (above) is Mademoiselle Proche.

They are all exquisite and it was a real bonus to see them on our visit to the museum.

Until next time,
Zoe

The Blackett Baby House (c1760)

In November I visited the Blackett Baby House in the Museum of London with my friend Claire.

I have to admit to being a bit underwhelmed by the way the house is displayed there but it was still lovely to see it 'in the flesh'.

Being the granddaughter of coal miners from County Durham, I was interested to learn that the house was made for a wealthy family called Blackett and that the fortune of that family came from coal and lead mining in Northumberland and County Durham.

It's also thought that the exterior could be based on Newby Hall in North Yorkshire (owned by the Blackett family at the time the dolls' house was made), which is not far from where I live now and is also, coincidentally, where the dolls' house collection of Caroline Hamilton and Jane Fiddick is on display.

But never mind all that - let's look inside!

The dining room has wonderful hand-painted walls showing scenes of Italian landscapes and classical ruins.

As someone with a tendency to cram as much furniture into a mini room as possible, I find this room a bit sparse but I suppose it depicts the fashion of the time (and they didn't have eBay in the sixteenth century either!)

The drawing room has joyous Chinese-style flower pattern wallpaper and apparently the screen is decorated with reproductions of playing cards illustrating Aesop's Fables, known to be on sale in a toy shop in St Paul's Churchyard, London, at Christmas in 1759.

The bedroom has the same wallpaper as the drawing room and the four-poster bed has a beautiful silk taffeta cover and curtains.

I like the built-in shelves and range in the kitchen but the star of the show in this room has to be the working spit roasting mechanism over the hearth.

[Sorry, I couldn't get this room all in one shot so I had to splice together two photos.]

The windows on the opening fronts have silk curtains which can be drawn using the cords!

The attic rooms and basement are accessed through side doors and were difficult to see into. From what we could see, they didn't appear to contain much furniture at all.

What I found most remarkable about this house was the wonderful condition of the decor and furnishings. One or two items of furniture were added by later generations but it's hard to believe that the majority of it is over two hundred and fifty years old!

Until next time,

Zoe