1895 Antique Doll House

I spent the weekend at my sister's and we had a happy hour or two furnishing one of her antique dollhouses with furniture from her collection.

This house was a Christmas present for a little girl in 1895 and was displayed each succeeding year near the family's Christmas tree for the next several generations. Eventually the newer members of the family discontinued this tradition and my sister was lucky enough to add it to her collection.

The house was originally built with four rooms. The kitchen was added a few years later

Prince Albert, a recently purchased Christmas decoration from the Victoria and Albert museum, is visiting.

The family is waiting in the parlour for the Prince to come down to tea. They are excited to have such a prestigious isitor.

The mother dog and her puppies are playing in the dining room. The furniture was made by Tynietoy in the 1920s. They will be shooed out if the maid catches them.

The children are playing in the nursery totally unconcerned about the royal visitor in the room next door

In the kitchen addition the cook and the maid are listening for the tea bell. The kettle is boiling so the water will be nice and hot for the Prince's tea.

My sister got this lovely tin stove at the Paris flea market last fall.

Someone has left his tools on the dresser.

This is such a wonderful antique doll's house

The family is waiting for Prince Albert to come down for tea

What could be keeping him, Mother wonders

Prince Albert is wondering why tea hasn't been announced. He is getting peckish.

In two of the  rooms there is fun and play

In the other two worry and expectation.  But I'm sure it will all work out. Thanks for visiting!

Contents of a 1930s dollhouse

The living room Furniture is Tynietoy with the addition of a red stain side table between the Hepplewhite chairs

The art in the room is stamped Tynietoy.

Recently I was lucky enough to buy the contents of a 1930s dollhouse.

The furniture includes pieces made by Tynietoy,  Schoenhut, Goldilocks, German red stain, and others.

Most of the dining room furniture is also Tynietoy. The small side table is  red stain. The large side table is metal and I can't identify it. Does anyone know what company made it?

On the sideboard are the elusive Tynietoy knife safes. I was so excited to see these i the lot.

The rug is Tynietoy, as are the silhouettes on the wall

The blue bedroom has an interesting bird cage. The wing chair and lounge are Cinderella furniture by the Wisconsin Toy Company,

The blue furniture is Tynietoy.

The nursery has a wonderful Wisconsin Toy nursery set plus a Tynietoy screen and high chair. There are two lead dogs and a wonderful rush cradle with a tiny doll as well as a lovely little doll carriage. The arm Chair is also a Goldilocks piece.

This bedroom set is  red stain furniture made in Germany. The vanity and arm chair are Goldilocks. 

The third bedroom has beds and chairs by Schoenhut. I have not seen the Vanity or wardrobe before. Does anyone recognize them. The paint colour of the whole set matches the beds. Could they possibly be Schoenhut too?

All of these accessories came with the lot. What a wealth of minis.

Happy New Year!! Antique Miniatures - Recent finds

I travelled down to Maryland to celebrate the New Year with friends and, as often happens when I travel, I found some wonderful treasures for my dollhouses.

To my delight I found these lovely antique items in a couple of antique shops. The table is a Schneegass Red Lacquer Table circa 1910, with an art deco design.

Please refer to this photo for scale on the smaller items.  The chairs and table are 1:12 size. The quilt rack isn't antique, but it is wonderful all the same.

I was particularly excited to find 2 chairs and a stool from Tynietoy.

Both Sheridan Chairs have hand painted seats to represent upholstery. I like these designs very much. The stool is a good find as they aren't plentiful. I love the designs on it.

The quilt and rack are not that old, but how could I resist such an adorable item for $2.00?

It appears to have been made by an Amish family in Ohio

The tray was made in Japan and doesn't match the other pieces, but I am sure I have a tea set that will go with it. I am always excited to find the stripped glassware. I think the glasses may be reproductions. If not they are also circa 1910.

These tiny items will look wonderful in any antique dollhouse. The toby mug seems to be quite old.

A tin pitcher, a stein and a tiny dragon vase. I have a child sized teapot and cup and saucer with this dragon design from when I was a child. I had no idea that they made the same design in something so tiny.

More tiny ornaments. My motto is "the smaller the better."

This locket isn't as old as the other items, but it will make a lovely photo album for a dollhouse.

There is only one picture in the album.

On a previous trip to the same area I came across this wonderful 1902 Coronation locket. It is so tiny that I put it next to the chair so you can see the scale.

The cover has a little wear, but it is such a wonderful miniature that I can overlook its flaws.

Pictures inside the locket.

The King and Queen, 1902. King Edward VII is the reason we have an Edwardian Period - as in Downton Abbey

The back cover of the locket has Edward VII's insignia - ER

Happy New Year!! All the best to you in 2015

My Tynietoy house is home - here's a sneak peek!

I took a road trip to Pennsylvania last weekend and picked up my incredible Tynietoy Townhouse.

Most of you know the story (click here read about it) of how CM of MyReality.blogspot.com bought the house for me and Ann Meehan's husband rescued it from the Maine auction house and brought to it their PA home until I could get there to pick it up.

I have such wonderful friends! I can't tell you how much I appreciate these people.

I spent last night cleaning the house and waxing the floors. It is starting to look very nice. I took the pictures in this post with my phone. I apologize for the poor quality. I will have better ones to put up this weekend.

I have removed the staircase from the front hall. It came with the house and is complete, but someone had glued it in with a very strange foamy type glue and it is a mess. I will scrape off the glue and put it back in.

Other than that the house is in surprisingly good condition.

I have cleaned this room and the others - they were really dirty - my water and cloth were black and I had to change them several times before I finally finished.

Then I dug out some floor wax that I haven't used in 20 years and waxed the floors. It looks pretty good now.

The wonderful yellow settee, wing chair and side chair - all handpainted with the same pattern - were a purchase I made from Ann Meehan. I picked them up when I got the house. The rugs were from her website too. All are original Tynietoy.

I put a few Tynietoy pieces in the bedroom just to see how they would look. I will not actually furnish the house until I am finished cleaning it.

As you can see in this photo some of the windows are missing their acetate panes. I will eventually be making reproductions to replace them.

The upper hall has its banister and acetate Palladian window. The window was missing when I first saw the house on the auction site. So I don't know if it is original or a reproduction. 

For those who aren't familiar with Tynietoy miniatures. Marion Perkins and Amey Vernon opened a TynieToy workshop in Providence in 1920. The TynieToy Company started making dollhouse replicas of famous New England homes to hold them. By the 1930s, they offered 10 styles of houses and more than 120 furniture items.

More info on this website

Here is the dining room with a few Tynietoy pieces I acquired recently. This room will have dining room pieces when I really furnish it. I couldn't resist playing with it last night.

The fireplaces are all original and are in good condition. As you can see the door frames are in excellent shape as well.

I am delighted with the condition of the house now that I see it in person. The photos of it on the auction site made it look much worse than it is.

I can't wait for the weekend when I will have more time to devote to the cleaning and furnishing. You will get the full tour then.

Hugs,
Susan