Tuesday 9 October 2012

Another 1930s Dolls House!

Another dolls house has just gone up for sale today on KT Miniatures website....initially I thought it was what we call a "Dolly Mixture" dolls house but when I started to really look at it and photograph for listing, realised that it is actually different from any of the other "Dolly Mixture" dolls houses I have handled....such as no dormer window on the central roof, no diamond patterns on the front doors plus the gabling is constructed differently. It does have some vague similarities to the Betal houses too but not completely, so....I am now just going to call it "A 1930s Dolls House".

 This dolls house has been much cherished and handed down a generation or two within the same family,  but now time has come for it to embark on a new chapter. It is in a good played with and mostly original condition. The base has been overpainted in a light green but can easily be brought back to its original colour if necessary. What is really nice is that there are both chimneys and steps....all of which are so often lost with these old houses.  The painted foilage that was so commonplace on these vintage dolls houses is very pretty and nicely done.

This has four rooms with two internal opening doors. The walls are in original colours plus the upstairs rooms have an upper border too. 


The stairs run up the centre of the house and can be seen through the double front doors. 
 It was not until I started photographing that I realised that there was a very faint stencilled name above the door....but for the life of me can't fathom out exactly what it says.....well I do and I think it says "Endars'" but this does not make sense! There are  more stencilled words around the lighting switches (see further down) but clearly in English, so my theory of it being a foreign name/word can be dismissed. Anyone any ideas?

The floors have been covered in sticky back wooden effect flooring but the original flooring may well be lurking underneath. Note the vintage paper cake cases as lampshades....fabulous!

 
 Battery compartments are located at the rear with original switches. There is some wiring but I have no idea if the system still works.
The spacious garage has a pair of double doors with the same metal handles as the front doors.  
 Then there are these wonderful pre-war Romside metal windows. Unlike the post war version that have metal tab hinges and handles, these 1930s windows have metal rods down each side to act as a hinge plus no handles.

This is a very sweet dolls house in 1/16th scale, doesn't come along very often and is in need of a new home. 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a lovely house. Could the house be called Tudors' written in old script?

Rebecca said...

I think it says Tudors, too.

It's lovely! Maybe one day we'll know more about who made all (or at least some!) of these houses that look similar but not quite the same ... I don't suppose you want to peel back the flooring a bit, and see what's under there? I am quite curious!

KT Miniatures said...

Many thanks for your input Sandra and Rebecca.Interestingly enough, I have had others email me privately all suggesting the same as you both.

Isn't it strange how I have stared at it for ages, viewed it through a magnifying glass and even enlarged the image on the computer and still did not see the name Tudors'. I kept thinking that the second letter was "n" and the fourth letter "a". But it would make perfect sense to be "Tudors'". Thank you everyone!

Actually, I have to admit Rebecca that curiosity did get the better of me and I did peel back a tiny corner.There is a little hint of old flooring paper under there but will leave it for the new owner to discover. Wouldn't it have been so much easier for us all if manufacturers had left their trademark clearly on all the dolls houses they made! Celia