Claire's Collection

Just over two weeks ago, I made a four hundred mile train journey to Cornwall to visit my friend and fellow dolls' house collector Claire. With me was my friend and fellow dolls' house collector Brooksey.

Claire had arranged for us to stay in a gorgeous little holiday cottage which will be four hundred years old next year.

The cottage is in the little costal village of Kingsand on the Rame peninsular and the beach was only a 200 yard stroll away. And look at the weather - it was perfect!

Not that we had time for sunbathing or sightseeing as we had a full-on, dolls' house-packed itinerary to get through.....

First off was Claire's own collection.

I have been friends with Claire for about six years now and during that time we've met up several times, we chat on the telephone every week (boy can we chat!) and we've shared countless photographs of our collections. However, nothing could have prepared me for seeing her collection 'in the flesh' for the very first time.

Having collected dolls' houses and miniatures with a passion for many years and having been fascinated by all things tiny from a very young age, she has managed to accumulate the most amazing collection of houses, furniture and well... stuff!

Oh and little dolls. Hundreds of little dolls - she's not affectionately known as Bobadoll for nothing!

A lover of Lines/Triang (amongst other things), she has some fab examples, including this biggie - the capacious Triang DH/12 which is nearly four feet wide.

And a lovely Triang No. 80.

Here we have a Triang DH/3 - I wish I had photographs of the insides too - they're all packed to the gunnels with amazing treasures.

I was particularly pleased to see this lovely G&J Lines No. 32 (aka a "Half Kits Coty") as I made the replacement sloped roof piece with the window and widows' walk on it for Claire a few years ago (apart from the turnings which were made by Cliff Hirst) and it was great to see it in situ.

The windows on this G&J Lines No. 37 (I do hope I'm getting the numbers right!) are the beautiful tin litho ones. This house was one of Claire's legendary bargain buys, costing the grand sum of £6.50!

This is the official "Dolls' House Room" in Claire's real house. I suspect it filled up and overflowed many years ago!

Anyone who knows Claire will know that she has long been a fan of Barton and has a very comprehensive collection of Barton dolls' house furniture. She also has no less than three of the rarely seen Barton houses.

Tucked away on the upstairs landing we have a towering Lundby dwelling.

One of the wonderful things about Claire's collection is that it is truly eclectic.

The more modern white property in the centre of this photo has been made into a fabulously groovy Pippa fashion boutique which really takes me back to my childhood!

The huge castle to the left of it is relatively modern too and is beautifully and imaginatively decorated in a quirky gothic style.

This huge, early 20th Century house has been beautifully furnished and is packed with mouth-watering treasures!

And talking about packed with treasures.....this is Peggoty Leggoty's house. Every room is a feast for the eyes. This is one of the few houses I remembered to photograph the interior of (I'm always too engrossed and forget!)

For some reason, however, I forgot to take a photo of the exterior...😊

Finding just one of those little wooden eggs with a tiny peg doll in it would make my day!

I could have spent a whole week looking at just this one house.

Back to exteriors and next there is this tiny Silber & Fleming type house - home to a group of lucky wee Grecons.

And this beautiful, larger Silber & Fleming - lovingly rescued from under a layer of white gloss paint.

I love the bays, the arched window and the balcony on this beautiful house.

This interesting house has, most unusually, bay windows on two sides and is currently being beautifully furnished with stylish treasures from Bassett-Lowke as well as the rare Triang 1930s 'modern' dining suite.

This one is a more modern box back, beautifully crafted by Frances England. And you might just be able to see some very rare pieces of Ladies Guild furniture in the upstairs room (as seen on The Antiques Roadshow!)

There is a more modern shop....

....or two.  This is the eccentric Madam B's shop of weird and curious objects. Believe me, Claire had no shortage of "weird and curious objects" with which to stock this shop since her taste is, by her own admission, somewhat quirky. And, I would add, fab!

This is 'Mouse Castle', home to quite a number of cute little vintage cloth mice, and complete with an imprisoned kitty in the dungeon! I'm kicking myself for not photographing the busy, quirky interior - especially the nursery with a line of adorable little cradles made from walnuts shells.  

Incidentally, I had a good play with the Sooty, Sweep and Sue glove-puppets you can see here too - I loved watching them on TV as a child, and I have to confess that since I've returned home I've acquired a set of my own! Sweep has a squeaker - how fab is that!!!

Ahem, anyway, back to the collection. This is Bartons Antique shop (run by Dolly Barton!) - a shop I could spend an entire day browsing in.

Here we have some wonderful vintage shops - a Binbak doll shop on the left and a rare Barton toy shop on the right - both packed and overflowing with mouth-watering mini toys.

And a Kaybot Wheeler grocery store next to a vintage radio which has been cleverly converted into Bartons Second Hand store, owned by Grecon grandpa Albert Barton.

A Jenny Wren shop just like my own little treasure. And more tiny things.

And finally, at least for the purposes of my blog, a little cabinet packed with some of the most beautiful dolls' house silverware, glass, china and more - something for everyone to drool over in here, I think! 

One of the fantastic things about Claire's collection is that she has built it up steadily over many years; scouring car boot sales, second-hand stores, charity shops, fairs and eBay to find the most amazing items at bargain prices - oh that I had her eye for tiny treasures lurking in dark corners!!

So, there we have it - Claire’s wonderful collection, or at least some of it - trust me, there was more!

Thank you to Claire for sharing it and for allowing me to blog about it. I really hope to see it again one day so that I can spend many more hours taking it in. 

❤️

In my next blog I'll show photos from another fabulous but entirely different collection we viewed during my visit to Cornwall.

Until next time,

Zoe