Dolls’ Houses

The earliest known dolls' or baby house was made in Bavaria in the mid sixteenth century. Like most of those built in the following 250 years, it was designed not to be played with but to be a perfect representation in miniature of a princely house and to reflect the wealth of the owner. By the eighteenth century, in many ways a golden age of dolls' houses in Britain, they were adult playthings but children were allowed to join in. It was during the nineteenth century that they finally became children's toys. This book outlines the history of these intriguing little buildings with illustrations of some fine examples, many of which can be seen today. At all periods the houses have reflected aspects of the way people lived at the time, right down to the present day when dolls' houses attract the attention of educationalists and child psychologists as well as designers and salesmen.

Halina Pasierbska was Curator of Dolls' Houses and Toys at the Victoria and Albert Museum. She is also the author of Dolls' House Furniture (Shire) and Dolls' Houses from the V&A Museum of Childhood (V&A Publishing).

Early German Baby Houses /
The Dutch cabinet house /
The English baby house in the eighteenth century /
The dolls' house in the nineteenth century /
The dolls' house after 1900 /
Further reading /
Places to visit.