Dollramas I (Miniature scenes)

A year of Dollramas...

2009-2011 

I

(Pour la version française, voir ici)

I know that the usual term is Diorama, but it is for all sorts of miniature scenes of all scales... 

And, even if J'adôre Dior, I feel better saying Dollrama when dolls are involved...

I don't know if scenes inside a dollhouse count as Dollramas but I'll start by the first vintage furnished  "rooms" for dolls I ever set as an adult since 2009.

Here is the House : 

It's a nº 91 by Triang - Made in England, 

probably from the 40s, early 50s if the nicest wallpapers in there tell us something relevant...

It's quite big - I don't know if one can tell from the photograph - and it takes furniture and dolls in the 1/16th (& 1/18th Lundby) scale

1- Kitchen:

Wallpaper and floor papers aren't original to the Triang house, which came with its own Triang design papers when it was bought in a shop back then, but some of the papers it contains today are 40s/50s indeed (see what you think)... I just love the imitation lino kitchen floor one and even if is is battered I couldn't consider changing it for a "cleaner" look... The kitchen fireplace is original to the house* (actually all the fireplaces you'll see are original... Wait till you see the Art-Deco ones !).

The furniture in the kitchen is a mix of different 50s/60s British brands : dressers & sink Barton (plastic pans & food, fridge, milk, pink tea set and toaster too) ; metal & plastic Taylor & Barrett cooker, Dol-Toi metal pans and pink baby high-chair - hidden between the sink and the side-board on the right -, Triang plastic and metal table and chairs - from the 1965 Spot-On line - and a plaster bread loaf marked Hovis as well as a part Addis cleaning set (the broom is Hong-Kong made). The tiny potteries on the fireplace could be German as they were bought there but might be more exotic...

* Empty kitchen for a better view of the gorgeous fireplace (wood frame, paper brick and fire decor + protect-fire in metal) and wall & floor papers...

On the right, there is a door leading to the...

2- Dining/Living-room

where it is always Christmas! ... And I think someone is hidden in one of the chair to watch TV...

In this room are pieces by Triang (the metal & plastic chair and armchair set) ; TV & radio by Barton ; Dol-Toi table, chairs and side-board set as well as the pink metal tea set on the table, the plastic black piano with stool is by Kleeware, the soft plastic blue standing lamp and the hard plastic lamp on the piano are Made in Hong-Kong, a vintage unmarked brass poking fire set ... There is a bulb and an electric system up on the wall that I haven't tested yet as it needs some repair (more on this later)...
The Christmas tree is one of the only two pieces which are contemporary in the whole house, the blue bonbonnière on the side-board being the second (I was so happy to find this as it is the miniature replica of my grand-mother's, antique to vintage probably from Verrerie de Portieux, see hereunder...)

Date ?

I just love to re-create whole rooms (or just add little touches) that remind me of my grand-mother's place when she lived in it (her husband's family settled in this house in 1900 - my grand-mother had it for the most part interior redecorated in 1930... ) so I don't know how old this piece is, as it might also have been in the family before 1900...

Now the upstairs...

3- First the children's bedroom:

Furniture Dol-Toi and Barton... And a little articulated doll from Hong-Kong... And here is the Art-deco fireplace in the background !... Again the same lino paper (less of a good choice here in my opinion, so one day I might gather it with the kitchen one downstairs and re-floor the bedroom but first I'll need to come across some real vintage paper that I like - or I could use the printer too - see garage...)

Then through a door again to find ...

4- The Master bedroom:

Which vintage back wall wallpaper that I absolutely love ! I represents children at the farm, who are in their clogs milking the cow, riding a donkey, herding yellow chicks in a flowery environment and in the most delightful way ! The floor paper is not fit for a bedroom and will need to be changed too one day...

A mix of Barton (bed, hidden baby cot, wardrobe and dressers) ; Kleeware for the clock on the Art-Deco mantelpiece (fire is missing here) and the green table lamp ; Lundby for the white chair, Dol-Toi for the desk and Triang for the red armchairs. Possible light in this room too...

The door on the right leads to the ensuite...

5- Bathroom...

I am a big fan of the marine themed wallpaper here too... It's a laundry and utility room too where Mister Made-in-Hong-Kong is busy ironing after emptying the washing machine...

A mix of British brands with a plastic Barton bath, toilets, toilet paper holder, stool, radiator, bath mat,  rubbish bin and washing-machine ; Tudor Rose mangle - it works!- ; Dol-Toi ironing board and iron ; mixed of Kleeware and Hong-Kong cleaning tools and buckets...

Under the bathroom is...

6- ... the garage (but the Made-in-Hong-Kong family has no car... and no driving licence actually... so they could always store their bicycles, lawn mover, garden tools... and old toys in there for the moment)...

This is how the garage looked when I found the house :

It was the worst floor in the whole house with two generations of tiled paper in a sad state (one can still see the paler terracotta original underneath, the only original paper to the house to be still here, all the others having been unfortunately stripped off before being replaced during different eras)... I got some advice and decided to restore it to a new glory... So I took a photo of the nicest part of the upper one, and got working on the computer to print a brand new sheet of the same floor paper...

And here is the result :

Not too bad... I tried to give it the less shiny color of original floor...

So that was the garage sorted, ready to be used as storage by the family...

Here is the system to open the house and reveal all the rooms...

There are actually three extra spaces we haven't talk about yet :

The first one is at the back of the house and is an open attic...

It is still like this at present - as as it is potentially exposed to sunlight I haven't dared to place any vintage plastic pieces as they might easily melt... So it should be a wood only space... Maybe next time we refurnish and turn the house round I should take care of that space and of the lighting system that needs attendance too...

The two others are at the front and inside the windowed front panel that open up to reveal...

... An upstairs where Mrs Made-in-Hong-Kong is feeding the fish...

... And a downstairs, a quiet corner to read and have a cup of tea in peace...

The chair on the right is probably one of the oldest doll furniture I possess...

I hope you enjoyed the visit of my little house and its 9 spaces for dollramas... 

Most of the pieces showcasted have been photographed individually and are visible on an album on the DHP&P site here and here too (and for other views of the house, as it was when I found it see here)

Soon, I'll start presenting you dollramas I made in 2013 in a slightly bigger scale... as I have finally found a big room box where big scale doll furniture fits perfectly !...

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