Dolls' house designed by Jessie M. King as part of a commission for a nursery scheme shown at an exhibition in Paris, 1913.

Dolls' house of painted wood, door and window hinges of leather. Simple in construction, the wooden sloping walls and undulating roof were painted in quiet colours.

Designed by Jessie M. King (born in Glasgow, 1876, died in Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway, 1949); probably made in Paris

This dolls’ house was made for a child’s room, designed by Jessie M. King for an exhibition of nursery design at the Musee Galliera in Paris (top right). The nursery was dominated by a central stained glass window, with a frieze illustrating the story of the Frog Prince, and painted white furniture. Apart from the dolls’ house there was also a delightful rocking horse called “Brightling” whose whereabouts are unfortunately now unknown. The nursery was designed at a time when Jessie King was running an art studio in Paris with her husband, E.A.Taylor, the furniture and stained glass designer.
The dolls’ house was one of many nursery related items she designed including wallpaper, ceramics, and other toys
Jessie Marion King was one of the many Scottish artists who were part of the art movement known as the Glasgow School in the 1890s and the early year of this century. She was known chiefly for her work in illustration and book design although she proved to be very versatile in other areas, designing silver and fabrics for Liberty’s as well as experimenting in Batik and the painting of unglazed pottery.
A typical example of her work is the drawing from “ The Magic Grammar” (bottom right), showing her intricate technique of web-like lines and dots. She illustrated 70 books, including a few of her own, mainly on the subjects of medieval romance and fairy tales.

“The Little White town of Never Weary”, ( George G. Harrap & Co., London, 1917 Renier Collection, NAL )
Jessie King wrote and illustrated this book for her daughter, Merle, then aged 8 years old. It tells the story of Miriam, who dreams she meets a mysterious White Lady, King Cardboard and his Elves, who take her to meet the inhabitants of the town of Never Weary. The book serves a dual purpose because it also shows children how to make houses out of cardboard. The houses, with their plain white walls and little square windows, are similar to our wooden house of 1912.

This dolls' house was designed by Jessie M. King as part of a child's nursery. Although it is influenced by the new Glasgow style and is aesthetically pleasing, it is not very practical as a toy because access to the interior is limited.

Time
In 1913, there was a major exhibition of nursery design, 'Exposition de l'art pour l'enfance', held at the Musée Galliera, Paris. Jessie M. King designed an entire nursery complete with furnishings, furniture, frieze and stained-glass window to be exhibited. The dolls' house was part of this nursery.

Places
Between 1911 and 1913, Jessie M. King lived in Paris with her husband, Ernest Archibald Taylor. While there, she was commissioned to design a child's nursery for a major Parisian exhibition.

Materials & Making
The construction of the dolls' house is simple. The wooden sloping walls and undulating roof were painted in rather drab colours with no attempt to create a model of a real house.

MISC.135-1977