Christian Hacker Antique Dollhouse Circa 1880

When I picked up my hard-won Tynietoy house last weekend I also picked up this gorgeous Christian Hacker. I felt like a kid at Christmas!

I had purchased this house last November, but couldn't pick it up until last weekend because I have spent the last 6 months in treatments to get rid of breast cancer - I think beat it by the way!

At last I was feeling well enough to go get it.  You can't imagine how eager I was to see this house.

The outside of the house was painstakingly restored a few years ago. There are some touch ups to the exterior, and the roof has lost its original traditional blue diagonal tile paper, but now it is looking much as it did when it was new.

The balcony is a replacement, but was copied from a similar Hacker house.

See the link at the bottom of this post to read about the restoration.

I have furnished the house with the Boule furniture that I have collected for it over the past six months. You can read about the pieces I got in Paris here.

I put the dining room above the kitchen, as I thought the decor of the room made it an inviting spot to enjoy a meal. I believe the wallpaper is a replacement with reproduction borders.

The ceiling retains its original decorations, but unfortunately has a split in it. The ceiling is actually the bottom of the attic section of the house.

The ringletted lady is a Simon and Halbig 1160 with her original wig and glass eyes. She is wearing her original outfit. It has shredded a bit from age. The older lady is a Kestner doll. She has a painted ribbon on the back of her hair.

Another Simon and Halbig lady with original wig and age-shredded dress welcomes us to the entrance hall. The wall and floor papers are original.

Her Airedale is hoping she will open the door to the kitchen. He might be able to steal a treat.

 Mrs. Featherbonnet takes a look at the parlour. The wall paper and floor paper are original with some touch ups. The paintings on the back wall are original art work by the same artist as those in the dining room.

The settee, drop front secretary and writing table with curved drawers are Boule.

 The upstairs hall has replacement wallpaper, but the floor paper is original. A small glass-eyed doll plays with her dolly. She is hoping that her governess is still napping and won't drag her off to her lessons. The doors and door frames are original. Again you can see the unfortunate crack in the ceiling. I don't know how to fix it, so I will just live with it until I figure it out.

 When visiting Ann Meehan's wonderful collection last year I fell in love with the little turned wood, painted dishes called Treen.

Since then I have acquired some and am proudly displaying them in this kitchen. They are not in pristine condition, but they are so hard to find I accept them as they are.

The dresser the dishes are in and the stove at the back of the room are original to the house. The wall and floor papers are also original

Another view of the kitchen. The lovely doll is wearing her original regional costume. I don't know what region she represents, but I think she is just wonderful.

There are also a few Treen pieces on the table.

I love the wallpaper in the bedroom and I believe it is original. The lovely Kestner lady with the bun at the back of her head is proud of her pretty bedroom.

The vanity has Treen toilet pieces on it. The picture on the wall has "Crystal Beach, Ontario, September 1908" written on the back. I have lived in Ontario all my life and I don't know where Crystal Beach is. I know the picture is too new for the house but I like it anyway.

I am wondering if I am dreaming. A Christian Hacker and a Tynietoy now live in my house. When I started collecting dollhouses I thought these wonderful antique toys existed only in museums. A few years into collecting and I actually own these exquisite items. It just goes to show you dreams can come true.

To read about the restoration of this house by a former owner go to this link - http://tynietoy.org - Click on the Antique tab and scroll down to (or search the page for) "A Larger Christian Hacker House and a Long Restoration"

I hope you enjoyed the tour as much as I enjoyed furnishing the house.

Hugs,
Susan

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

Mr. Blue-Green buys Art

I first posted this in September 2009, but I thought you might enjoy it again. I met CM of MyRealitty.blogspot.com because she did a continuation of this story. If you look at her posts from around this date you will see her responses.

300+ Follower Giveaway!!

I am so excited to have more than 300 followers on this blog, and that so many of you have left comments saying how much you enjoy reading it.

To celebrate I am giving away this living room.

Just leave me a comment saying you would like to be included in the draw.

I will randomly choose a name on Saturday, July 21, 2012, and mail these four items to the lucky winner the following week.

These are vintage items, so please note they are not in new, pristine condition as they have been around for a few decades.

They are all in excellent condition despite their age.

I believe the couch and chair are Shackman from the 1980's, but I am happy to be corrected if I am wrong.

The cat in the basket is a more recent ornament. I have seen these pets often, but I can't say with any certainty who makes them or how old they are.

All four items are 1/12th scale.

 The coffee table is from the same era as the couch and chair and may be Shackman. I can't say for sure.

The couch and chair are the same strawberry pattern, but are from slightly different die lots, as you can see in this picture.

I hope these sweet items find a new home where they will be enjoyed and appreciated.

Make sure you leave me a comment if you wish to win them.

The house is mine!!

I have the Tynietoy house at last!! It is not in my hands yet, but it has been picked up from the auction house by dear friends from Pennsylvania and will be in my hands soon.

It needs some TLC, but that I can give it.  I am so excited!!

For those of you who haven't been following the saga of the Tynietoy house, go to CM's blog, MyReality.blogspot.com and read the posts from May 30, 2012 to June 4, 2012.

I bought this house and its contents last February from an Auction house in Maine. I paid for it (shipping too) and waited for it to be sent to me. I called and emailed the auction house several times but received no indication as to when I would get it.

Over a month later I finally managed to speak to someone in charge and was told that I couldn't have the house. It had been sold to me in error. It was being put up in a future auction and there was nothing I could do about it. I said I bought it, I paid for it and I want it, but to no avail. I was not happy, but I was going through chemotherapy at the time and had no energy to fight.

My dear friend, CM, went to bat for me when this house came up for sale again a few weeks ago. She posted about it on her blogs. She called and emailed all the dollhouse collectors and dealers we know. And she had me file a complaint with the Maine Attorney General.

While none of these valiant efforts stopped the re-sale of the dollhouse, CM got the support of the dollhouse collectors world and no one bid on the house except her. And she bought it for me!!!

I am so touched and moved by CM's kindness and the support of our collector community. Thank you, also, to Ann Meehan and her husband for picking it up for me. And, thank you all for being such great friends!

In a few weeks the elusive Tynietoy Townhouse will be ensconced in a place of honour in my home. Every time I look at it I will be reminded of the love and kindness of CM and of you all. It certainly is a special little house.

Daphne stays home

Daphne didn't want to come with me on my latest adventure. I went to Iceland to celebrate recovering from chemotherapy. Daphne said "Who wants to go to a land that is made of Ice?"

She couldn't have been more wrong but she seems quite happy with the souvenirs I brought back for her.

We saw each of these things in 1:1 scale while we were there. Daphne didn't know what she was missing. There was a lot more than just "Ice"!

The small, sturdy Icelandic horses were everywhere, and very charming, except for this one who tried to bite me. Daphne's pony certainly won't try to bite her. It is very well-mannered, and has a soft, permanently closed mouth.

Daphne's Icelandic sweater is very small. The one on this hairy Viking is very large. But apparently he and the ten-foot tall polar bear are on sale for half price. I guess that included the sweater. No, I didn't buy them. Just imagine trying to fit them into the overhead bins on the plane.

There aren't any polar bears in Iceland unless they happen to float over on ice flows. I am glad this didn't happen while we were driving in the sparsely populated northern part of the island.

I couldn't resist buying the little book because we saw the same house in Hofsos. They have added a deck railing since the picture on the book cover was taken. Very charming. It looks like a doll's house.

In Iceland there are sheep everywhere. They outnumber people by 3 to 1. Daphne is enchanted with the two little ones I brought her and has promised to take good care of them. I may sign her up for a course in sheep shearing. She'd love that.

I wish Daphne had decided to come with me as there were many things that were just her size and I could have taken pictures of her with them. This little Icelandic house with the turf roof was in someone's yard and was a perfect 1:12 scale. We saw several of these during our travels.

Daphne would also have enjoyed the Settlement Centre where people just her size helped to tell the story of Iceland's history.

But, even without Daphne we had a lovely trip. It seems to have restored my energy and joie de vivre after the chemotherapy kicked the stuffing out of me.

Iceland is a country of waterfalls and a variety of landscapes. I highly recommend it.

Hugs,
Susan

The Lazy JB Ranch - A little Colorado in Paris

If you have visited LeftCoastMini.blogspot.com recently you will see Carol's take on the Lazy JB. She inspired me to blog about it, so here is my story.

One day in Paris Carol and I went up to Montmartre. 

After visiting Sacre-Coeur and perusing the artwork for sale we decided to walk down the Rue Lepic in search of the Café des Deux Moulins where Amelie worked in the movie of the same name.

 The Rue Lepic runs downhill for a long time before one reaches the Cafe. It was a pleasant walk, but something caught my eye and stopped me dead in my tracks.

Through a large window facing the street I could see Lazy JB Ranch. It was fantastic.

The Lazy JB is a 1:12 scale work of art by photographer Jeff Berner who was raised on an Indian Trading Post in The Garden of the Gods, outside of Colorado Springs, Colorado, but lives in Paris now.

 Jeff took pity on this poor Canadian who had her nose pressed tightly against his front window and invited me in to see the ranch in all it's glory.

At which point I lost Carol on the Rue Lepic. It took her a while to retrace her steps and find me again. But she did.

In Jeff's own words he describes the Lazy JB as such "Well, pardner, some years ago I created a miniature diorama of a Wild West ranch which was on exhibit at the Museum of Miniatures in Los Angeles for three years (it was across from the LA County Museum of Art, but has now disappeared). I did spend 700 hours building the 1-inch-to-the-foot scale model...which is six feet by three feet by 15" high and is totally realistic.  You can imagine how many local visitors - and Germans, Italians and Japanese, all great fans of Wild West Americana ~ wandering up or down rue Lepic, will be rooted to the spot outside my windows !"

Just like I was. Jeff gave me permission to take pictures of the Ranch and post them on my blog.

We spent a few moments reminiscing about Colorado. Jeff was raised there and I had spent some time in that glorious state visiting Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Silverton, Cripple Creek and taking a jeep on the old mining roads in the Rockies, among other things.

Check Jeff Berner's photography at http://www.jeffberner.com

A little Paris at home - Antique Dollhouse furniture

 One of the things I love about Paris is the Flea Market or Marche au Puces, as they call them. We were delighted to discover a lot of doll related items in the antique section at the Porte de Clignancourt. And even more delighted to find some rare Boulle antique dollhouse furniture.

One of the first booths we stopped at had these wonderful 1:12 scale pieces. For me, it was love at first site. The drop front Secretary has wonderful painting on the outside and a very attractive green on the inside.

Boulle furniture is also referred to as Biedermeier style or Waltershausen. The later being the area of Germany where many toys were made before the First World War.

Boulle is named after French ébéniste A.C. Boulle (1642-1732). The elaborate painting on the miniature pieces are meant to represent his fine decorative schemes of brass, tortoiseshell and other materials on a background of dark woods. He, and the cabinet makers that followed him, applied veneers and marquetry inlay over secondary wood.

The vanity has holes in the top level for perfume or lotion bottles. I love the elaborate designs painted on the piece.

I love this little table. Unfortunately one of its feet was broken off at some point in it's long life. It has been repaired badly, but I can live with that. It has such personality.

At another booth we found this delightful 3/4" scale bedroom suite in a glass case. The friendly vendor had no other doll-related items. I asked the price and immediately said "non". But the vendor was motivated and came down to what I was willing to pay, even though it was close to half of what she originally said.

The pieces have some wear, but that is to be expected in toys that are 100+ years old.

Once we had agreed on the price I needed to find an ATM. The happy vendor walked with us to the nearest one, about a half a kilometer away, and escorted us back to the shop. We never would have found her again otherwise.

The celluloid baby was included in the lot and is really cute, if not original.

I had to glue the drawers of the little chest back together, and even though one is missing, but it is still charming.

Also included was this gorgeous sewing table. Not part of the bedroom set, this piece is 1:12 scale. It is missing two of its curved legs. I will make a couple of reproductions for it.

I love the design on the top of it. and the sectioned drawer with the velvet pincushion inside.

Here are the two vanities side by side so you can see the difference in scale.

I think the smaller one is older, but I am happy for more information if you have any.

I can't wait for my next visit to Paris. You can be sure I will be at the Flea Market, cash in hand, looking for treasure.

Susan