QUEEN MARY'S DOLLS HOUSE

The famous and priceless Queen Mary's Dolls' House is on public display at Windsor's Castle.

It stands five feet tall and was built by the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens who also designed the Cenotaph. This magnificent dolls' house was built for Queen Mary, the wife of George V. It is six-storey high, has a well equipped servant quarters, fully landscaped gardens and basement big enough for five cars. It was built in 1924 and never been played with.

When looking into the tiny chambers it feels like being transport back to a by-gone age. Everything was built to minute details and scale. It spells magic. It is a fantastic time capsule of British history preserved in tiny contents - one inch to one foot. Nothing was missed out of that life whether it is the Lux flakes in the kitchen, Rolls Royce Silver Ghost in the Garage, library containing original works from Rudyard Kipling and Arthur Conan Doyle - the size of two postage stamp - electricity, running water and a lift.

                                  ONE OF THE STAIRCASES 

                                                        

                                                                    THE STATE APARTMENT 

The dolls' house is much more that just a toy with which to play. It is the ultimate of craftsmanship and a showcase of talent. All put together in a time capsule of the life of British aristocracy. It was built just after the First World War as a memorial of continuation of that kind of life.

Princess Marie Louise had the inspiration to have it built for Queen Mary. Queen Mary was a well known and obsessive collector of 'tiny craft'. It was to be an appreciation for the support during the war. Princess Marie Louis asked her friend Lutyens to design it and it can be filled with all the small treasures collected.

Lutyen started with all the enthusiasm to design and built this dolls' house and his idea was to show generation to come how the King and Queen of England lived at the beginning of the 20th century.

The dolls' house has a collection of 750 works of art. Amongst the artist are Paul Nash, Edmund Dulac, William Nicholson and Frank Raynolds, the art editor of Punch magazine.

25 composers were asked for musical scores and included Gustav Holst but not Sir Edward Elgar. He thought that King and Queen are incapable of appreciate any art and thought it an insult to do such a thing.

THE LIBRARY

The walnut-panelled library has 200 original literatures. Princess Marie Louis sent to writers and musicians tine blank volumes for them to write in. A leather bound, hand-written story from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, How Watson learned the Trick, Rudyard Kipling submitted a 4x3cm book, hand-written poems, some unpublished and with his own illustration. Mr James wrote the haunted Dolls' House, Thomas Hardy wrote seven poems and Robert Grave five.

                                     THE DINING ROOM

It is a document of social history and a bygone age which makes it more and more valuable and interesting.

On the kitchen table you will find a tin of Colman's Mustard and Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce. By the sink tiny tins of Lifebuoy, sunlight soap and Lux flakes.

The five bathrooms and lavatories have running water. Each lavatory has a shiny Bromo paper.

The famous cigar and pipe manufacturer Alfred Dunhill supplied miniature cigars, cigarettes, pipes and custom built tobacco.

Carties built a longcase clock for the marble hallway. In the strongroom behind a gate are crown jewels weighing 1.5lbs instead 1.5 tons.

In the wine cellar are 200 bottles of Chateau Lafitte 1875 and five dozen bottle of Veuve Clicquot to name just the most important ones.

The nursery is decorated with fairy tales murals by Edmund Dulac. It also contains miniature gauze pneumonia jackets, to retain the body heat, which were used up till the time when penicillin were discovered.

The garden was designed by Gertrude Jekyll who was a famous gardener of the day. It also has a functional lawn mover. In the garage stand six horseless carriages which include a Daimler limousine and a Rolls Royce.

The Dolls' House was handed down the present Queen and is on show at the Windsor’s' Castle.

SUMMARY: Queen Mary's Dolls House is famous because of the highest craftsmanship in miniature which is harder to do then a full size furniture etc. It is an outstanding example what a craftsman of the highest capability can achieve. It is also a time capsule of by-gone age and a world we would never see otherwise. To see it in real is an unforgettable experience