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Doll House

ca. 1900 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This small dolls' house was a product of the famous German dolls' house manufacturer, Moritz Gottschalk. It is an example of one of the blue roof series, produced from about 1880-1910. From 1910 the company more commonly made houses with red roofs..
Blue roof houses were some of the company's earliest products and were mass produced for an international market. The blue houses, like this one, were often made with a simple wooden construction. The detail for the house was achieved through lithographic printed paper stuck to the surface of the wood. This produced a cost effective but attractive and detailed product.
Gottschalk along with other companies O the same period such as G & J Lines in the UK and the Bliss company in the USA, all contributed to the rise in mass manufacture of dolls' houses which, due to their smaller size, made them more affordable and practical for a wider number of children around the turn of the century.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.
(Some alternative part names are also shown below)
  • Doll House
  • Turret
  • Doll House
Materials and techniques
Lithographic printing
Brief description
Doll house, blue roofed, made of wood with a lithographed printed paper finish, Moritz Gottschalk, Germany, ca. 1900.
Physical description
A small dolls' house made from wood covered with lithograph printed paper that suggest the main architectural and decorative features of the house. The house front opens through a small brass clasp hook on the proper left of the house and by way of two hinges on the right, revealing two rooms inside, one upstairs and one on ground level. Externally the house has a blue roof with a removable turret section. When removed this reveals the inside of the roof cavity. On the front of the house there are three windows and a door with a blue overhang porch and a small balcony with a wooden fretwork balustrade. The base of the house has been painted with a stippled effect in grey and green. The overall colour scheme of the outside of the house is cream with peach, yellow and light blue details, suggesting brickwork, curtains and shutters. Inside the house the upper room has a wood finish floor and a straw coloured geometric design wallpaper on the walls. The lower ground floor room has a blue and cream tile effect floor in printed paper with a brown and orange paper print on the walls.
Dimensions
  • Top of turret to floor height: 56cm
  • Width: 25cm
  • From back of house to overhang of the porch depth: 21cm
Gallery label
This detailed and elegant house has a wooden frame covered in brightly printed paper. From about 1880 to 1910, the German toy company Gottschalk made dozens of different ‘blue roof’ houses. Every model was available in several sizes to suit the customer.(2014)
Summary
This small dolls' house was a product of the famous German dolls' house manufacturer, Moritz Gottschalk. It is an example of one of the blue roof series, produced from about 1880-1910. From 1910 the company more commonly made houses with red roofs..
Blue roof houses were some of the company's earliest products and were mass produced for an international market. The blue houses, like this one, were often made with a simple wooden construction. The detail for the house was achieved through lithographic printed paper stuck to the surface of the wood. This produced a cost effective but attractive and detailed product.
Gottschalk along with other companies O the same period such as G & J Lines in the UK and the Bliss company in the USA, all contributed to the rise in mass manufacture of dolls' houses which, due to their smaller size, made them more affordable and practical for a wider number of children around the turn of the century.
Collection
Accession number
B.701:1, 2-2010

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Record createdMarch 22, 2011
Record URL
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