Schneegas red lacquer

 My friend Amy was lucky enough to find some antique Schneegas red lacquer furniture. It didn't fit in her dollhouses, so she decided to offer it to other collectors and I was lucky enough to get it. As you can see, it fits very nicely into my antique dollhouse. Thanks Amy!!

The red lacquer furniture is impressed with art nouveau patterns, and is harder to find than the golden oak, or yellow cherry furniture of the same style.

The clock is approximately 8 inches tall and is very impressive. It has a mirror behind the soft metal pendulum and clock weights.

 The desk is gorgeous despite its missing door (bottom compartment), and turned piece below the top compartment. I will see if I can find suitable replacements.

The bedroom has four pieces.Three of the pieces have their original impressed cornices, but unfortunately this part is missing from the top of the dresser mirror. But that's not really a problem. I think the dresser looks fine without it.

One of the dresser drawers is missing, and I have found a replacement for it from a different Schneegas dresser that someone painted. I will strip it and stain it to match then put its pewter drawer pull back in. Then the dresser will be as good as new.


I have repaired the pier glass mirror with a plain dowel across the bottom. The original piece would have been elaborately turned to match the side supports.

The wardrobe is missing both doors, but I plan to replace them with plain wood stained to match until I can find suitable replacement doors. I believe the original doors had the same embossed designs as the rest of the furniture.

I am so pleased to have this wonderful furniture. Thanks Amy!!

Susan

Red Roof Gottschalk - 1925

Diepuppenstubensammlerin has identified my Red Roof Gottschalk

She has sent me scans from this book:

Moritz Gottschalk, 1892-1931: Dollhouses - Doll Rooms - Kitchens - Stores - Furniture--Reprints of Original Catalog Photographs with Historical Documentation [Hardcover]
Moritz Gottschalk (Author)

I am so happy she did. These pictures show that my house is complete and original, although I seem to be missing the lower flower box.


The new born house is fresh and untouched in these pictures. Mine is a bit faded and has a few wrinkles and warps, just like any 85 year old, but it is still beautiful.

I believe it has led a gentle, loved existence and it will continue to do so with me.

Thanks so much Diepuppenstubensammlerin

It is wonderful to have these early photos of my house (or one just like it).

Hugs,
Susan

I got Gottschalk! Antique Dollhouse!

When I first got dollhouse fever I read everything about dollhouses I could get my hands on.

I learned of the rare and desirable dollhouses that were in the hands of a lucky few collectors. How wonderful these house are, I thought, imagining them out of my reach forever.

These wonderful structures by Gottschalk, Schoenhut,  Tootsietoy, Keystone and others from the early years of the last century are very hard to find, with prices ranging in the hundreds, even thousands of dollars. They seemed far out of my reach.

But I was wrong. With a little luck and an eye for a bargain, I have added some of these beautiful houses to my collection. In this post I am pleased to show you my Gottschalk Red Roof house. Because of the garage I believe this house was made in the 1920s. It has dried out over the decades, and has many cracks in the wood, but it has all its original paint and wallpaper. I think it is magnificent.

This is the downstairs entry hall. In the closet at the back of the hall is a toilet. This was typical of this era of Gottschalk houses. There is no sink, or bathtub. I think most people still washed with a basin and ewer in their bedrooms, and bathed in a tub set up in the kitchen,  but it must have been very nice to have an inside toilet,

The roof lifts up to reveal an upper hall and a bedroom. I find it interesting that the curtains are put on upside down so that they hang down when the roof is open. I don't know if this was common practice or just the whim of the house's original owner.

I love the heart wallpaper and interesting floor covering of the bedroom. the upper hall has interesting decor too.

The wood you see here is the upper landing banister to prevent the dolls from falling down the steep stairs. It doesn't look very effective. I feel it should be taller to really keep the dolls safe, but then it would get in the way of tiny hands at play.

I am crazy about the side door with it's trellis. I feel very lucky to have the steps since they are no longer attached to the house and could easily have been left behind over the years.

The side door brings you into the living room. The wallpaper is lovely with it's great border. Too bad about the damage, but at least it is intact.

Notice the large crack across the back of the room? This is very typical of these houses, even when they were fairly new, and apparently was used by Gottschalk's competition to promote their own products as better quality.

Garages aren't common on dollhouses, and are a desirable feature. This one opens to show another interesting floor paper.

Perhaps it is supposed to be flagstones.

I know my Gottschalk furniture is too big for this house, but I was excited to try it. I still can't believe I have a Gottschalk house and Gottschalk furniture to put in it. I love it all.

Gottschalk in the living room

Gottschalk in the bedroom

Gottschalk in the upper hall

And a chair that came with the house in the lower hall. Maybe I will replace it with a coat rack. There is no room for anything else.

Notice the door handles. The door pull has a long wire on the back, as you see on the hallway door. When you turn the door pull to the proper position the door stays closed because the long wire prevents it from opening. You can also see the wire sticking out of the toilet door.

Here is my cozy little house.

All these items came with the house. They are the perfect scale to furnish it and probably just the right amount of furniture for the small dwelling. The little girl is all bisque German. with painted eyes and joined shoulders and hips.

The scotty dog is iron and the dachshund is china. The beds are made by Realy Truly, the rocker is Kilgore and I think the car is too. The rug under the beds is a tobacco felt and the other two rugs are hand crocheted.

I am not sure what the red settee and piano are. They are similar to Strombecker or Schoenhut, but don't seem to be of the same quality. The chair between the beds is adorable, and from the same period. The little watering can is ceramic. There is also a little blue bottle with a cap.

But what I love the most in this group of wonderful items are the deer. The three large ones are soft metal and are marked Germany on their undersides. They have magnificent antlers. The little one is ceramic and marked Japan on the bottom.

I feel that all these items are original to the house as they are the right era and scale

I feel privileged to be the caretaker of these wonderful items during my lifetime. They will outlive me just as they have outlived the little girl who delighted in them all those decades ago. I am sure they will continue to be cherished by future owners for decades to come.

Hugs
Susan

Daphne's house tour

Daphne would like to give you a tour of this 1948 Keystone of Boston tudor style dollhouse that she bought on her trip to Washington DC last spring.

Come on in and enjoy!!

This wonderful house is built of masonite (as they called it in the advertisements It seems to be a sort of particle board). It sits on a turn table that is attached by a bolt through the center of the house, which makes it easy to get at from front or back.

The windows are metal, as are the little handrails on the steps.

The living room has a built in fireplace. Daphne has chosen to furnish it with Strombecker wood pieces and a couch chair and ottoman that looks like Scheonhut, but may be from a different company of the period.

The cozy bedroom has a homemade quilt and comfy wing chair. The table is Strombecker and the radio is early 20th century metal. The tall chest is from a House of Miniatures kit.

The calico wing chair and footstool are very common. I see them everywhere. There is also a matching settee in the corner of the room (you can't see it in this picture). Does anyone know who made these sets? They are really cute.

The dining room has a Strombecker table and chairs and a maker unknown dresser. It is quite old and in beautiful condition.

Notice the metal piece in the middle of the floor where the turntable is attached.

The staircase is right in front of the door which prevents it from opening all the way, but the dolls don't mind.

The kitchen has a Strombecker stove and fridge with a dresser from a kit and a newer wooden table. I love the decorative border at the top of the room.

The baby's room has Renwal furniture, as well as other plastic furniture from the same era.

I had that same set of bunkbeds, except in blue, when I was a kid. They are still around somewhere. I never throw out doll stuff.

The bathroom has a Strombecker toilet and sink, with a brass claw foot tub. I haven't been able to find the right tub for this set yet, but I'm sure it will show up sooner or later.


We hope you enjoyed the tour.

Come back and see us soon,

Hugs

Susan (and Daphne)

Do you call that Clean?

The hierarchy of the help.

Antique Dollhouse revisited

 I recently found a box of antique dollhouse furniture, so I rearranged my antique dollhouse.



I left the Schneegas dining room and bedroom furniture in place, but I added the large Schneegas desk and hall stand to the den.

Mother is trying to explain to the maid that the fireplace tongs don't belong in the middle of the dining room table.

The parent's bedroom is cozy. I see they have no bulbs in the light fixture. That must be why they have the oil lamp on the bedside table.

There is a lovely Stevens cast iron table and maker unknown brass fireplace in the upper hall. Hmmm. that must be a picture of Grandma on the table.

The elegant living room with German sofa, wonderful Schneegas table with marble top and a Chinese vase.

The carpet is hand made petitpoint, no old, but very beautiful.

The second bedroom.

 The box of antique furniture contained this child's bed and dresser.


The little boy is an all bisque jointed child made in Germany. I put some hair on him today and all of a sudden he had  a personality. I think he is adorable.

I need to do some work on the upstairs hall and the banister on the stairs. The house came to me with the newel post, banister and upper railing missing. I have no idea what to replace it them with so I am leaving it for now.


I was lucky enough to find a mother cat and a batch of kittens at the antique market a few weeks ago. They are all bisque and made in Germany several decades ago - possibly the 20s or 30s.

 I love the bathroom. Made in the 1920s it is painted wood. The sink is missing its faucets and there is quite a bit of paint loss, but I had been looking for just this set for a while and was delighted to find it. The heater is German, of soft metal and was probably made between the 1029s and 1940s

 Look at that toilet! I love the detail, with the built in toilet paper holder. The shape of the bowl is a hoot, but maybe that's how they looked in the 20s. I don't know, I wasn't there.


The towel rack came with the bedroom behind the bathroom. The bedroom suite has a wonderful German Wardrobe, matching bedside table and bed. All are painted white with gold trim. The chair came with this set, but seems to be a different colour.

 I had to glue the desk chair together, so the blue you see on it are the elastics holding it together while the glue dries. I am not sure what the two men are discussing, but it seems to be serious.

The living room behind the den has a wonderful green velvet arm chair and matching sofa. Possibly German.

 When Mother returns to the dining room she finds the fireplace tongs are still on the table. Where is that maid?













In the kitchen sister is trying to figure out what spot is begging for.

That box of antique furniture also contained the kitchen table with three chairs. The plaster sink and a wonderful matching dresser.

Random rooms in random houses

I have no stories to tell today, so I though I would just share my collection. Below are pictures of random rooms in random houses. There is quite a variety. I love them all! I hope you do too!