DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68274#0269
Seventeenth Century (Dutch)
(Travelling is a task not given to everybody,
And it's not said so much and without blame
That the home is like a grave, wherein we always dwell,
In the earthly vale of tears.)
The house was therefore " their world, their toy,
their god" ; they loved to embellish and decorate it, they
loved to take care of it and keep it clean, they loved to
see it painted on panel and canvas ; and some of them
even went so far as to have their house reproduced in
miniature, with all its furniture and belongings copied in
wood and metal.
It would be a mistake to suppose that the so-called
dolls' houses, which may be studied in the museums of
Amsterdam, Utrecht, and other towns, were merely the
somewhat elaborate toys with which the English-speak-
ing juvenile race sometimes amuse themselves. As the
old inventories show, dolls' houses and all their appur-
tenances Were very vivid mirrors of contemporary life,
including furniture and costume. This is particularly
true of Holland, although other countries of Western
Europe preserved evidences of the taste for similar
" toys " of earlier date. Henry IV of France, for in-
stance, when a child, played with toys, among which are
noticeable a suit of clothes in wrought silver.
These dolls' houses were elaborate and costly; for
every detail of the real model was represented, including
the small articles of porcelain, Delft, earthenware, pew-
ter, brass and silver. Dolls' salons, too, were often
painted by noted masters, and cost thousands of florins.
For example, a beautiful doll's house of the date 1680, in
the Antiquarian Museum of Utrecht, has its walls covered
with paintings by Moucheron. The houses consisted of
173
(Travelling is a task not given to everybody,
And it's not said so much and without blame
That the home is like a grave, wherein we always dwell,
In the earthly vale of tears.)
The house was therefore " their world, their toy,
their god" ; they loved to embellish and decorate it, they
loved to take care of it and keep it clean, they loved to
see it painted on panel and canvas ; and some of them
even went so far as to have their house reproduced in
miniature, with all its furniture and belongings copied in
wood and metal.
It would be a mistake to suppose that the so-called
dolls' houses, which may be studied in the museums of
Amsterdam, Utrecht, and other towns, were merely the
somewhat elaborate toys with which the English-speak-
ing juvenile race sometimes amuse themselves. As the
old inventories show, dolls' houses and all their appur-
tenances Were very vivid mirrors of contemporary life,
including furniture and costume. This is particularly
true of Holland, although other countries of Western
Europe preserved evidences of the taste for similar
" toys " of earlier date. Henry IV of France, for in-
stance, when a child, played with toys, among which are
noticeable a suit of clothes in wrought silver.
These dolls' houses were elaborate and costly; for
every detail of the real model was represented, including
the small articles of porcelain, Delft, earthenware, pew-
ter, brass and silver. Dolls' salons, too, were often
painted by noted masters, and cost thousands of florins.
For example, a beautiful doll's house of the date 1680, in
the Antiquarian Museum of Utrecht, has its walls covered
with paintings by Moucheron. The houses consisted of
173