Groups can book a private viewing of the largest and most famous Doll’s House in the world and experience a new centenary display of miniature items.
Groups visiting Windsor Castle will be able to get even closer to the tiny treasures and appreciate the attention to detail involved in Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House. They’ll also be able to experience a private talk and viewing of the Dolls House without the crowds between March and October.
The items, which will be shown in the Waterloo Chamber, range from a tiny concert grand piano, fully strung and with functioning keys, to miniature Crown Jewels inset with real diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds and seed pearls.
Visitors will also be able to see the Modern-Day miniature library which has been championed by Her Majesty The Queen and features 20 tiny manuscripts penned and decorated by hand by leading writers and illustrators including Simon Armitage, Charlie Mackesy and Dame Jacqueline Wilson.
The new manuscripts range from short stories, poetry collections and illustrated tales to plays, articles and recipes, many inspired by the Dolls’ House or written specially for the occasion. Each manuscript, measuring just 4.5cm high, has been hand-bound with a unique cover by a leading designer-bookbinder.
Her Majesty The Queen has contributed her own miniature book to the collection: a handwritten introduction to the Modern-Day Miniature Library project. Bound in the Royal Bindery at Windsor Castle, the book features a gold-tooled miniature version of Her Majesty’s cypher, measuring 7mm tall.
The manuscripts will be featured in the dolls’ house’s miniature library which captures the literary culture of the 1920s through tiny books penned by the era’s foremost writers, from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Vita Sackville-West to A. A. Milne and Thomas Hardy.
In her introduction, Her Majesty The Queen said: “For me, it is the library that is the most breath-taking space in the house”. She praised the contribution of all involved adding: “These new books highlight the incredible richness of 21st century literary talent – and demonstrate how fortunate we are to have access to so many outstanding writers, whose work brings joy, comfort, laughter, companionship and hope to us all, opening our eyes to others’ experiences and reminding us that we are not alone.”
Items from the kitchens and servants’ quarters include a vacuum cleaner, which was a relatively new innovation in the 1920s; a sewing machine, complete with thread and minuscule scissors that can actually cut; and a copper kettle made from a coin, with the King’s head still visible on its base.
The room in which the Doll’s House sits was created especially for it almost 100 years ago and this space has also been re-presented to mark the anniversary.
Designed by the house’s architect, Sir Edwin Lutyens, it features murals by the decorative landscape artist Philip Connard together with the artists Dorothy Cohen and Winifred Hardman.
“Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House is a constant source of fascination for visitors to Windsor Castle.”
Kathryn Jones, curator
These murals have been expertly restored and re-lit, so that visitors can appreciate the fine-detailed scenes of elegantly dressed figures promenading and relaxing in the grounds of a series of royal residences, including Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace and Hampton Court.
The Dolls’ House itself has been re-lit to simulate daylight rather than moonlight, and the room’s ornate corner niches have been restored and filled with miniature plants and flowers, which were originally created as part of a seasonal scheme for the Dolls’ House Garden.
About Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House
It was built between 1921 and 1924 as a gift from the nation to Queen Mary following World War One. It is a perfect 1:12 scale replica of an Edwardian residence, complete with electricity, working lifts and running water. Its scaled-down rooms range from a fully stocked wine cellar and ‘below-stairs’ spaces to grand entertaining salons, and feature contributions from more than 1,500 of the finest artists, craftspeople, and manufacturers of the day.
The house went on display at Windsor Castle in 1925 and has been delighting visitors ever since.
Kathryn Jones, curator of the special display, said: “Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House is a constant source of fascination for visitors to Windsor Castle, as irresistible to adults as it is to children. We are thrilled that we can bring the tiny treasures of the Dolls’ House to a wider audience in this anniversary year.”
Special group rates along with talks and tours are available. For more information click here.
