A Jane Austen 1:12 Scale Doll Cabinet House

A Jane Austen Doll Cabinet House, a 1:12 scale house (2015)

It was Nell Corkin's work I thought of when I saw this unfinished Regency cabinet dollhouse from Hong Kong. I couldn't resist trying my own hand at a miniature dollhouse.

As I studied the furniture that was available, I realized that the standard scales didn't really fit the interior of the dollhouse, so I decided to make my own. Assuming that the ceilings would be approximately 12 inches high, I made my own ruler.

I have made several paper rooms and decided everything would be paper. Settling on the Jane Austin period (1800-1820), I began researching furniture and design.

Of particular help was R. Ackermann's Repository of Arts, published by Ackermann, London, 1809-1810 and later.

 I began by creating elevations of each room and then imagined it in 3D, adding the furniture pieces.

Elevations for three of the rooms

Drapery wall based on Ackermann designs.

The pattern for the armchairs and a table.

The finished dollhouse closed.

The Regency Christmas Tree

One might wonder at the fact there is a large Christmas tree in the entrance. According to the research, Victoria was not the first person to introduce a tree, following German customs. The first tree in England was in 1800 for Queen Charlotte, the German wife-born wife of George III at a Christmas Day party at Windsor. German Prince Albert, Victoria's husband is the person credited with making the trees popular in the 1840s. 

According to http://www.regencyhistory.net/2012/12/did-they-have-christmas-trees-in-regency.html

John Watkins describes the royal family Christmas celebrations of 1800 in his biography of Queen Charlotte:

“At the beginning of October the royal family left the coast for Windsor, where Her Majesty kept the Christmas-day following in a very pleasing manner. Sixty poor families had a substantial dinner given them; and in the evening the children of the principal families in the neighbourhood were invited to an entertainment at the Lodge. Here, among other amusing objects for the gratification of the juvenile visitors, in the middle of the room stood an immense tub with a yew-tree placed in it, from the branches of which hung bunches of sweetmeats, almonds, and raisins, in papers, fruits, and toys, most tastefully arranged, and the whole illuminated by small wax candles. After the company had walked round and admired the tree, each child obtained a portion of the sweets which it bore, together with a toy, and then all returned home quite delighted.”

It is interesting to note that the tree stood in an “immense tub” in the middle of the room, presumably on the floor; all the other references that I found talk about table-top Christmas trees.

The finished Jane Austen Cabinet Dollhouse