A Rare George II Palladian ‘Baby’ House, or Doll’s House

With exceptionally executed and architecturally carved facade, with original 18th century glass panes to the eleven windows and fan light. The front facade affixed to a more vernacular and characterful carcass, enclosing two shelves or floors. English 18th Century ‘Baby’ houses, in comparison to the later Victorian and more commonly known ‘Doll’s’ House, were often constructed to be more in keeping with the 17th century cabinet of curiosities, than the intricate housing for children’s toys which developed later in the 19th Century through the Victorian fascination – they also, after 1700, began to develop (as this one) into intricate models with ornate and carefully executed facades – brickwork, windows, glass, architectural accuracy and finesse – aiming to replicate the style and fashion in Georgian architecture of the time, or to represent existing buildings as commissioned by the owner, sometimes executed by extremely notable cabinetmakers and architects. Robert Adam is known to have designed ‘Baby’ houses, and Thomas Sheraton and Thomas Chippendale were key designers in creating furniture for the famous Nostell Priory baby house.

Comparable images included, showing the monumental Georgian Baby or Doll’s house in situ at Leixlip Castle, Ireland – the then home of The Knight of Glin Desmond Guinness, and his wife Mariga, displaying the unpredictable ‘decorative wit’ of this duo. From Herbert Ypma, ‘Irish Georgian’.

Provenance: Yaverland Manor, Isle of Wight (photo included of the house)

Height: 107 cm
Width: 73 cm
Depth: 42 cm