The Utrecht Wooden Dollhouse
The middle-class homes of seventeenth century Southern Germany were represented by the baby houses. The whole domestic life during that time is magnificently displayed before you very eyes. The Dutch Houses from that time period, however; are often said to go one step further.
The Dutch Houses are carefully preserved in Utrecht, Amsterdam, The Hague and Haarlem because they are either cabinets or are built into cabinets. They cannot be considered mere object lessons, but are indeed items for ostentatious display. The Nurmeburg Cabinet at Pottendorf in Lower Austria was a similar cabinet piece, but most South-German Baby Houses that are still in existence serve as an object lesson, unlike the Dutch Baby Houses. While the German houses are solidly middle-class, the Dutch houses are upper middle-class.
One of the oldest is a dollhouse in Centraal Museum at Utrecht that dates between 1674 and 1690. It has a total height of 206.5cm, 182cm long and 74.5cm deep, that includes its four short twisted walnut columns, and olive-wood cabinet. This house was made for Petronella de la Court in Amsterdam.
After the death of Petronella Oortman and Abraham du Pre, the Baby House was put on public offer both in 1730 and 1736. There were no takers during those offers, but in 1744 it was eventually acquired by Pieter von der Beek, who had bought it for his wife, Maria Sophia Heykoop. Her daughter Margaretha had a catalogue of the House printed for visitors, as was customary in Holland. In 1866, her grand-daughter, then a resident of Utrecht, present the Baby dollhouse to that city.
Containing three floors and eleven rooms total, the Utrecht House is a grand piece of work. On the middle story lie the most elegant rooms of the house. Below those rooms, is the kitchen with a Dutch open hearth. This is followed by the lying-in room, and finally a garden. At the back of the kitchen is a water chamber and a secret.
A variety of woods, copper etchings that are used to decorate the ceiling, and paintings on the walls are just some of the intricate details of the Utrecht House. The paintings bear the names of the painters and the dates of their create. Paintings include works by Gerard Hoet (1648-1733), with the date 1674, Jan van Hightenburgh (1647-1733), and Willem van Mieris (1662-1747) that dates to 1682.
Besides various woods, the house also includes ivory, amber, and silver for specific pieces of furniture. Many of the paintings, as have been mentioned above, are signed and dated, as well as a battle scene on the chimney breast. This scene is ascribed to J. Van Hughtenburgh, around 1690. With all these details, the Utrecht Baby House is a wonder to be seen.
Mark discusses Tudor wooden cottages and other wooden dollhouses.