Mrs Bryant's Pleasure
Dolls' House
1860-1865 (made)
1860-1865 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
This house is not a child's plaything. It was made for a lady called Mrs Bryant in the early 1860s, who lived in a house in Surbiton called Oakenshaw. Mrs Bryant wanted to make a miniature record of the interior of her home. The only child-related object is a child's folding chair in the drawing room.
Mrs Bryant commissioned a professional cabinet-maker to make the furniture which was made with skill and accuracy. The rooms are furnished in exactly the same way as a middle class home of the time would have been. The wallpaper is the same as Mrs Bryant would have had on her walls at home. 1860 was still too early for bathrooms, which became more widespread in the 1890s, and so the bedrooms are equipped with wash-stands and basins. The kitchen is surprisingly small. A real kitchen in a middle class household would have been considerably larger to accommodate the large range of kitchen equipment needed to keep the house going.
Mrs Bryant commissioned a professional cabinet-maker to make the furniture which was made with skill and accuracy. The rooms are furnished in exactly the same way as a middle class home of the time would have been. The wallpaper is the same as Mrs Bryant would have had on her walls at home. 1860 was still too early for bathrooms, which became more widespread in the 1890s, and so the bedrooms are equipped with wash-stands and basins. The kitchen is surprisingly small. A real kitchen in a middle class household would have been considerably larger to accommodate the large range of kitchen equipment needed to keep the house going.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Parts | This object consists of 3 parts.
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Title | Mrs Bryant's Pleasure (popular title) |
Materials and techniques | Jointed and painted wood |
Brief description | Mrs Bryant's Pleasure dolls' house made in England between 1860 and 1865 |
Physical description | The house is three stories high. The two side walls are painted to resemble bricks as is the front wall which has rows of pedimented sash windows, four to a storey, hung with lace and outer curtains. The house is surmounted on three sides by a balustrade. It has five rooms; two bedrooms on the second floor; a sitting room on the first floor; and a kitchen and parlour on the ground floor. All the rooms are furnished to give an accurate picture of interior decoration during the mid-nineteenth century. |
Dimensions |
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Production type | Unique |
Gallery label | Ann Jago Bryant was in her late 50s when she commissioned this very large dolls’ house.
It is said to be modelled on her real-life home, a large house called Oakenshaw in the London suburb of Surbiton. Although much simpler than Oakenshaw would have been, the cosy colours and heavy furniture do reflect fashions of the time.
(2014) |
Credit line | Given by Miss Helen Bryant |
Object history | The house was loaned to the museum by Mrs Bryant's descendants from 1930, and was donated in 1955 |
Summary | This house is not a child's plaything. It was made for a lady called Mrs Bryant in the early 1860s, who lived in a house in Surbiton called Oakenshaw. Mrs Bryant wanted to make a miniature record of the interior of her home. The only child-related object is a child's folding chair in the drawing room. Mrs Bryant commissioned a professional cabinet-maker to make the furniture which was made with skill and accuracy. The rooms are furnished in exactly the same way as a middle class home of the time would have been. The wallpaper is the same as Mrs Bryant would have had on her walls at home. 1860 was still too early for bathrooms, which became more widespread in the 1890s, and so the bedrooms are equipped with wash-stands and basins. The kitchen is surprisingly small. A real kitchen in a middle class household would have been considerably larger to accommodate the large range of kitchen equipment needed to keep the house going. |
Collection | |
Accession number | MISC.9-1955 |
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Record created | June 2, 2005 |
Record URL |
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