Tiny house

There was one more thing I wanted to show you from the Rijks. And what a thing it is. It’s this dolls’ house that belonged to Petronella Oortman, built in the late 1600’s. Oortman was a wealthy widow (who later remarried) and had the house and furniture made for her, which ended up costing as much as a full scale one. Rich women commissioned these houses to show off their wealth, and this particular one ended up in the museum. Shall we have a little look round it?

The house and furniture within were all built to scale, using the same materials as their full scale versions. Again with the workmanship! And I love the fabric on the wall - very very cool. I’m not familiar with the lay out of Dutch merchants’ houses of the era, but I think this is supposed to be a kids’ bedroom on the ground floor.

And here is the kitchen, with real marble for the flooring. We’ve been watching a programme on Channel 4 called The Great Big Tiny Design Challenge (really rolls off the tongue doesn’t it?), so I was more drawn to this than I have been on previous visits. And now that I’m older I’m definitely more attuned to highly skilled workmanship, as I can appreciate it on a whole other level. I think it’s related to how most things are done so cheaply and of low quality these days, that when you see things made with proper care and attention, they really stand out. I recently read this article in the Observer about current craftspeople and found it inspiring and reassuring.

Apparently Oortman had these small pieces of porcelain made and sent over from China. Zoom in and have a closer look - they are quite something.

The mural in this room was painted by a proper artist too - no wonder it cost a fortune! In fact Oortman was so proud of it she commissioned Jacob Appel to paint a painting of the dolls’ house, which is also in the Rijks. In it you can see that some of the rooms look different, so maybe parts of the house have been damaged over the centuries, or maybe she chose to update the decor after the painting was made.

A hallway. Fancy fancy.

Is this a dressing room? With what they wore back in those days it would probably take an hour or two just to get dressed. They might even have paused half-way through for a cuppa, judging by the china on console table. Haha, I think i’m forgetting that this is a dolls’ house aren’t I? All the dolls, apart from the little baby that you see seated to the right, were sadly lost at some point.

The top floor bedroom with amazing details all around.

I really liked these two rooms at the top, with the laundry hanging on rails and the coal store at the top of the last little set of stairs. The house inspired the writer Jessie Burton to write The Miniaturist, which also became a TV-series, and I’ve read and watched both of them and enjoyed them, even if they’re a bit trashy. It was so nice to be transported to 17th century Amsterdam and drink in some of the (very dramatic) atmosphere. So there you go, the smallest house tour ever, just for you.

P.S. A snuck this pic of me looking at it, which was very helpful, as this way you can really see the scale of it. Big and small at same time (Biggie Smalls anyone?).