I love antique dollhouses; they seem to carry with them the spirit of those who have loved and cared for them over generations. When I bought a copy of the book ‘The Vivien Greene Dolls’ House Collection, I found myself returning to the photos of one in particular; she’d named it the Mahogany House and it dates from the mid 1700’s. This house, and at least one other from Mrs. Greene’s collection now form part of an exhibit at the Concord Museum in Concord, Massachusetts. The exhibit is called The Art and Mystery of the Dollhouse and runs through January 15, 2017.
The Concord Museum, Concord, Massachusetts.
The exhibit includes a number of room boxes, as well as several dollhouses, one dating from about 1695. The earliest European dollhouses were elaborate replicas of idealized or actual homes, and were furnished with exceptionally well-made and very expensive furnishings. In some cases they may have been instructional, examples for young women in how to run a household, but more likely, they were displays of the owner’s economic status.
One of the special events the museum has scheduled to coordinate with this exhibit will feature some well known Guild members. Stop by the Concord Museum on November 19th between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to meet and observe artists, including IGMA Artisan and Fellow members Pete and Pam Boorum, Elizabeth Gazmuri, Bonnie Backe and Teresa Layman, who will demonstrate their work in 1/12 scale.
