Rijksmuseum 17th Century Dollhouses~

On By cindy knokeIn Conservation, EXTERIOR & INTERIOR DESIGN, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, Tech Marvels, TRAVEL REVIEWS

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In the 17th century, women in Holland created and displayed miniature dollhouses, in much the same way that men of their era, collected and displayed curiosity cabinets. (You can click the images to enlarge them)
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The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has three of these dollhouses, two are pictured here, one from 1676 and another from 1686.
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These dollhouses were not meant for children and could cost as much as an actual canal house at the time.
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One dollhouse creator Petronella Oortman, commissioned artists of her day to create a perfectly to scale house with marble floors, sculpted ceilings, hand painted wall frescoes, and doors that opened on a garden with a working fountain. She commissioned miniature porcelain from China.

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There is something about these miniature worlds that fascinate us to this day, whether it be scale model trains and towns, or intricate dollhouses.

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Many humans like to be creators and masters of their own perfect little worlds, absent the stress and strife of real life. They are miniature dream worlds where everything is beautiful and peaceful.

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These old dollhouses are time capsules, that allow us to travel back in time and imagine what life was like in 1686 living in Holland, on the canals, in this house.

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Creating a house like this must be like Zen meditation, the creator lost in the bliss of their own imagination.
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I would love to make one, but can well imagine the mounting costs, and how much I might get into it.
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But it is free to look at these amazing houses, that others have built before us, and it sends our imaginations soaring across time, back to them.
Cheers to you and may your New Year be happy and peaceful~

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314 thoughts on “Rijksmuseum 17th Century Dollhouses~”

  4. I definitely see the appeal of creating a miniature world of my own to suit my tastes and indulge my fantasies! Now if only I can shrink myself so that I might be able to enjoy those marble floor and hand-painted wall frescos. Here’s to dreams! Happy New Year Cindy! ~Lynn

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    1. Yes, as a kid I wanted to be a Borrower, those tiny people that lived hidden in everyone’s house. They were the ultimate observers. I wonder if that’s why I became a shrink………
      Happiest New Year Lynn and so look forward to 2016 with you my friend! <3

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  5. This is fascinating Cindy!! such exquisite detail! My girls and I built dollhouses together for them years ago– but they looked nothing like these!! Dutch domestic art is my favorite– and these little houses and a different picture of the same themes. Great post. So glad you’ve gotten to travel and see so much! Happy New Year ahead!! xo

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    1. I like all dollhouses so I know I would have loved the one you and your girls built together. I did this with my daughter too and I really think I was probably more into it than she was!! 😉 😉 And I agree with you about the charm of Dutch domestic art~

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  6. I adore dollhouses! Unlike my own house, things stay right where you put them, and you don’t have to constantly clean house! I once gave a dollhouse kit to a niece as a gift and it was a wonderful project of bonding between the girl an her father! Go ahead….do it….it’s a new year! Many blessings for the new year to you and yours….

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    1. I love it so much when Dad’s get into to doing this with their daughters. What kinda of a very cool Dad is this!! I think Aunt Cynthia also sounds like a cool aunt. My son in law calls me a hipster, which I think is intended to be a humorous insult. Laughing…….but I will wear my hipster status proudly. Cool is cooler than hipster, don’t you think?
      Happiest New Year dear friend and I look so forward to reading more of your incredibly moving poetry in 2016. Be well~

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  13. That is so unbelievable that so much detail and intricate carving can be produced in miniature. They actually look like a full size house. Great photography Cindy to get such fine detail.

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    1. Yes, this perfect replication, really impressed me. Especially when I am zooming in on it and maginifying it in effect and it looks like a real, amazing home. Incredible artistry. Hope all is well with you Pauline and Happy New Year!

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  14. What a treat you have brought to my eyes. I am sure you would have great fun with a doll’s house. Imagine all the little pieces you could pick up on your travels. 🙂 Am I naughty to tempt you? 😉

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    1. Oooooh, I didn’t think of this. I could make a travelers house. Now this thought will not leave my mind, especially since, there is no more room in my house for souvenirs!!! 😉 Yes, this is a deliciously naughty idea! Happiest New Year Mandy. We have celebrated at least three together now I think. I look forward to the fourth~

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      2. Yes, because I need to go back to Australia and New Zealand, considering all I missed the first time, and the wonderful friends I have in both places now, like you! <3

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    1. Yes. Exactly. You know there are antique dollhouses all over the world. I think it would be incredible to take a trip to see as many as possible within a designated time frame.

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  18. O am fascinated by the doll houses you featured. I did fairly well with my parents and I getting furniture and people for my 2 girls’ dollhouse. When they out grew it, I regret only a little, we gave it to a family who had just had twin granddaughters. Now that I have grandies, I think about it more. We had the porcelain claw-toed feet bathtub, etc 🙂 These are both fabulous, Cindy. I am happy they are displayed where everyone can see. Smiles, Robin

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    1. Oh, I can imagine the regret at not keeping your dollhouse Robin, but I also see the generous heart that motivated you to gift it to other little girls. This is a reflection of how I preceive you Robin. Kind and generous. Happiest New Year my friend~

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  19. I’m dying here! I’ve been twice to the Rijksmuseum and the line-up was around the block so I walked on by and visited the Van Gogh instead. Now I know better. Next opportunity I will stand in that line just to get to see these miniatures. I *love* miniatures, and these are obviously exquisite examples. I so want to see them. Have you been to Madurodam? If not you must go next time you’re in the Netherlands – all the iconic buildings of the country in miniature. Thank you for sharing this. It’s now on the ever-growing list!
    Alison

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    1. Hah!! Considering our life style, our travels, our values, it shouldn’t surprise me that you love miniatures too. But it does. Amazing that you love them too and no I haven’t been to Madurodam, or the miniature village in Britain or Germany. I want to go to all of course, just as you do, and it is probable that either you or I, or both will actually go!! How cool is that?
      The Rijksmuseum is best visited off season, not in spring or summer, just like the Ufizzi. If you go in mid-late November, you will see the Christmas markets and there will be no crowds, no lines, and you’ll have the dollhouses to yourself as you should. Happy New Year Alison! <3 <3

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  21. This is simply amazing ~ so life-like, with the detail of the woodwork, the drapes/canopies it is hard to believe that first someone would have such artistic talent to pull off such a feat and then to learn that what I am seeing was made in the 17th century. Wish I lived in such a place 🙂
    Wishing you a beautiful and happy New Year Cindy ~ what a great year it was for you with your travels and most impressively your photography, and we all thank you for sharing it all with us. I believe 2016 will carry even more magic for us. Take care ~

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    1. You are a joy Randall. Blogging is such a gift isn’t it. It enables like minded people to make connections with each other all over this amazing world. You and I would never have crossed paths in the real world unless we were at the same spot taking phtographs and then we wouldn’t be talking to each other! Your last set was just inspiring. And yes, it blows me away that this Dutch woman made this house as a hobby and maybe never had an idea that 350 years later it would be in a world famous museum seen and admired by people all over the world, photographed and posted by a Hollerite woman from California in her blog, causing more people to be amazed at her talent.
      What an amazing world, and what circularity of time.
      Happiest New Year to you Randall. I so look forward to sharing 2016 virtually with you~

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  22. The detail work in the miniatures is remarkable. On the more practical side, to keep them from collecting dust must be a constant process.

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  24. I wonder if there is a word in German that captures intricate, fascinating and darn cute! You captured it all Cindy so well.
    Sending you a chickie hug 🐥

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    1. Oh my gosh, I was there, saw the Olmstead’s but totally missed this. I need to go back. I’m craving food in the nearby Amish towns in Iowa anyway. This is wonderful. Thank you for the lead John and Happiest New Year to you my friend~

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      1. I’m not familiar with the Olmstead unless you’re referring to Frederick Law Olmsted’s work on the park surrounding the superb Liberty Memorial (now The National WWI Museum and Memorial). The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is worth a visit to view specific famous pieces. The Truman Presidential Library and the Arabia Steamboat Museum are notable.

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  28. Wonderful miniatures, Cindy. Isn’t the Reijksmuseum a great world-class museum? They have some miniature rooms in the Art Institute in Chicago, but they are mostly American.

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    1. American is good too. I love all miniatures and want to see more so thank you for the lead. My family is from Chicago. I was the only one in my generation not born there and I haven’t been back since I was a kid. So a trip to the midwest, considering John’s comment above, seems indicated! Thank you~

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  30. Wonderfully presented miniatures, Cindy. I love miniatures, but i do not think I ever saw these. Many years since I visited as well. I always wonder if it’s men who made them or women? I guess it would have been men in those days. And I love the idea of making a traveler’s house!

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    1. I love Mandy’s idea of a travelers house too! This would be so much fun.
      I think these houses were one of the few ways women were allowed to be creative and artistic during this time frame. Both these houses were reportedly designed, implemented and overseen by their female creators. Men of this era made curiosity cabinets as similar hobbies. Your thought provoking comment reminded me of Artemisia Gentileschi the
      Italian painter (1593-1652). She was one of a small group of influential female artists of the Renaissance. She was trained by her father, raped by a mentor, tried, tortured and exonerated for the rape during a seven month trial. For a long time her work was said to be done by a male artist, until finally she and her work received the recognition it so deserved. I suspect there were other female artists of the era whose work was passed off as done by a male, rather than the other way around. Thank you for spurring this train of thought Leya and Happiest of New Years my friend. I look forward to our shared blogging journey in 2016. <3

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      1. Of course there must have been rather many women who never were recognized for their work. It was not long time ago that women could not write either…stand as authors of novels or poetry using their own name. So, some improvements there are…

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    1. Thank you more for the kind appreciation, but the credit clearly goes to the amazing two women who made these houses. I just snapped the fotos. Happiest 2016 to you my friend and I look forward to the year together. <3

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    1. The intricacy is incredible and the more amazing that it was done in miniature, in this time frame, by a woman as a hobby, and passed through the generations and saved. Yes this is incredible! All the best to you Sheryl in 2016!

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  40. Hi Cindy, I have a dollhouse that I worked on with the kids–it’s very fun, and we love it for all the reasons you mentioned. Thanks for sharing this. Best wishes for a Happy New Year!

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      1. No worries there! It is packed away for now, but there will come a day when I have more time to take it out to play with, with or without grandchildren. Thanks for the good wishes, and the same for you and your family!

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  43. Well these doll houses certainly raise the bar…How delightful!
    (Wait – a way to have a nice house without worrying about the dog’s muddy feet…real potential for a calm and sense of stylish accomplishment without pet destruction/interference! Ha Ha)
    Hope your new year is fill with great adventures and wonder

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    1. Exactly! Plus no dishes to wash, bathrooms to clean, laundry to wash or gardens to water. It is perfect and perfectly clean at all times. This is why they are pluperfect in every way!! 😉 😉
      Happiest and healthiest New Year to you my friend~

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    1. Oh my gosh, I saw your name and went to your blog hoping to find you and left a message which I don’t know if you’ll receive. It was so wonderful to see your handle Belinda and know you are out there somewhere. I hope you have sensed that I have been thinking about you regularly and sending you my healing thoughts and prayers.
      Thank you so much for checking in. You are in my thoughts, in my prayers, and in my heart. <3 <3 <3

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      1. Hi Cindy, thank you for this beautiful message. You have moved me deeply. I am not ready to start blogging but I did visit about six sites today, it felt really good. Huge hugs and blessings.

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  45. I’m so stunned by the details of the miniatures. How incredible, Cindy! Can’t imaging the effort and time they spent… Great images of these beautiful dollhouses. 🙂
    Happy New Year to you and yours, Cindy!

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  47. Amazing dolls houses 🙂 I love being transported back through time here….shame we can’t shrink to fit inside and see what life would be like if we were living it ourselves!

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    1. I don’t ask for much in life. I would like to time travel, be able to beam instantly all over the globe to eat, be able to shrink and go around un-noticed, win the lottery, and be able to spend the night in any place in the world that I choose, think Sistine Chapel. It’s not asking for much and I don’t see why I can’t have these things. You, after all, get to fly over all multiple universes with your wolf.

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      1. 😀 No it’s not much to ask at all…all perfectly reasonable and fair and nothing less than any thinking human being would realistically and understandably expect in their day to day existence 😉 😀 I certainly don’t think anyone would see any reason whatsoever why you shouldn’t have such reasonable, down to earth demands…I mean expectations lol … met 🙂 😀

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  49. I’ve always wanted a doll house. I’ve never seen ones like these before. Amazing craftsmanship. I’ve been staring at them. I like the room with the miniature china the best. I can imagine myself siting there and eating off those plates. Fantastic!

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