Queen Mary's Dolls' House by Mary Stewart-Wilson 1988 1st Edition EX+ BOOK Gift  

Queen Mary's Dolls' House by Mary Stewart-Wilson 1988

David Cripps (Photographer)   Hardcover - Great Gift Idea!!!

Slight dust jacket wear, inscription inside front cover  o/w Very Excellent condition..

This dolls' house, built by Sir Edward Lutyens in the early 1920s as a gift for Queen Mary, was presented to her as a gesture of goodwill from the artists, craftsmen and authors most prominent at the time. Nearly everything in it was especially commissioned and made in some of the finest British workshops of the era and it also includes a garden plan by Gertrude Jekyll. The house shows in miniature a detailed picture of a domestic interior. It represents the established way of life between the wars, showing accurately the upstairs and downstairs worlds in the contents of the forty rooms and vestibules of the house. The 200 colour photographs are by David Cripps, who has worked for the Arts Council, the Crafts Council, "Crafts Magazine" and "The Sunday Times Magazine

Queen Mary's Dolls' House, built by the famous architect Sir Edwin Lutyens between 1921 and 1924, is one of the most beautiful and extraordinary dolls' houses in the world. Standing over 2 meters (or 7 feet) high, it is a perfect replica of an Edwardian private residence of the grandest possible design, complete with Saloon, Library, Dining Room, private apartments, servants' rooms, kitchen, wine cellar, and garage full of vintage miniature limousines--plus working lifts, running water and electric light. Every room is fully furnished with miniature replicas of the contents of a real Edwardian house--from the kitchen, with its copper pans and kettles, to the Saloon, with its tiny full-length state portraits. The wine bottles in the cellar each contain less than a thimbleful of vintage wine, the linen cupboard has a full complement of miniature sheets and tablecloths, and in the Strong Room minute replicas of the Crown Jewels are on display. It also has an art collection, by all the leading painters of the day, including Sir William Nicholson; and extraordinary Library, with miniature volumes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Hardy and Edith Wharton, among others, and as the final touch, a garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll.

England's Queen Mary--grandmother of the current Queen Elizabeth II--commissioned the construction of her extraordinary dollhouse (or "dolls' house" as it is referred to here) in 1921, during her own reign. It resides at Windsor Castle, as it has since being constructed there. Designed by Edward Lutyens (famous for his graceful furniture), the house is a reproduction of Windsor Castle right down to the last nail--almost literally.

David Cripps' photography beautifully captures the interiors of this amazing dollhouse, from the grand to the plebian. Here is the linen closet, each batch of towels tied with different-colored ribbon to denote whether they were intended for the nursery, the staff, or the kitchen. Here is a lacquer cabinet with gilded stand, dovetailed working drawers, and gold-leafed decoration. Here is a bed, complete with pillows, bolsters, sheets, blankets, and even a tiny walnut-handled bedwarmer. The toilet, complete with toilet paper discreetly placed in a bowl alongside, really works. The toothbrushes are made of ivory and have bristles made from the hair of a goat's inner ear. In the cellar, bottles of Chateau Margaux are properly corked and waxed and labeled. The pantry shows real bows of Fry's Chocolates sharing space with McVitie & Price biscuits, barley sugar candies in hefty glass candy jars, and Frank Cooper's Seville Marmalade in squat jars tied with brown paper and string.

The garage houses a miniature bicycle with brakes "in perfect working order," not to mention a Rudge motorcycle and sidecar, a seven-seater Rolls Royce limousine-landaulet, a Vauxhall, a "Sunbeam open tourer," and two Daimlers. Gorgeous royal crests are hand-painted on each. The house even has its own petrol pumps and fire appliances, as was normal for large houses in that era.

The house's garden is splendid despite the absence of a single living thing. The lawn, made of cut green velvet, boasts several tiny mowers (both motor-powered and not), and the nearby garden has its own lovely benches, hoes, spades and the like. There is even a robin's nest, complete with eggs, and a tiny, tiny snail.

Perhaps the most extraordinary thing in the house is the book collection. Famous authors were asked to contribute their own works. Arthur Conan Doyle obliged by submitted "How Watson Learned the Trick," an original 500-word short story done in his own handwriting. The bookplates for each of the books were designed by beloved Winnie-the-Pooh illustrator Ernest Shepard. Rudyard Kipling submitted not only two poems, but illustrated them himself as well. Other well-known authors who gave their own works to the Queen's house included G. K. Chesterton, Joseph Conrad, Robert Graves, Aldous Huxley, Hilaire Belloc, Rose Macauley, W. Somerset Maugham, and Vita Sackville-West. Topping off the fine works of this distinguished crowd are the leather-bound autograph books--one each for famous folks from stage and screen, famous folks from the military, and famous politicans.

There is even a room for storing the scepter, crowns and other regalia--all featuring flawless gemstones!

The details are endlessly fascinating and the house and its furnishings so well-constructed that without a tennis ball or coin or some other everyday real object, you easily forget that everything your eye falls upon here is miniature. For those who cannot get to Windsor Castle themselves to view the house in person, this book offers a very fine tour.

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