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The V&A Museum of Childhood presents miniature treasures, both old and new

Tiny Furniture

The V&A Museum of Childhood, which is situated in a beautiful, 19th-century brick building in London‘s Bethnal Green, is currently presenting a collection of 12 doll houses from the past 300 years—ranging from a Georgian town house to high-rise apartments—in an exhibition entitled Small Stories: At Home in a Dolls' House. The show takes viewers on a tour of the history of the home, reflecting changes in use, relationships, and design and architecture over the years. The miniature houses are fully equipped with furniture, household goods, and interior decorations, reflecting the style of their specific eras, as well as the social class of their tiny inhabitants. They act as frames of everyday family life and relationships: occupants get ready for school, listen to music, play a game of pool, or prepare dinner in the kitchen.

As a special feature, the houses are equipped with buttons that trigger narration; each character lights up as he or she talks, drawing us into their miniature worlds. (In addition to the story-telling houses, a further 20 dolls' houses are on display in the permanent galleries of the museum.)

Betty Pinney House, 1870 © Victoria & Albert Museum Betty Pinney House, 1870 © Victoria & Albert Museum

The drawing room of a doll house by Amy Miles from 1890 © Victoria & Albert Museum The drawing room of a doll house by Amy Miles from 1890 © Victoria & Albert Museum

The interior of the Hopkinson House show a Second World War-era family, poised for an air-raid,with miniature gas masks, ration books and torches for the blackouts. © Victoria & Albert Museum The interiors of the Hopkinson House show a Second World War-era family, poised for an air-raid: with miniature gas masks, ration books and torches for the blackouts. © Victoria & Albert Museum

The Whiteladies House is a modernist villa designed by artist Moray Thomas in the 1930s. © Victoria & Albert Museum The Whiteladies House is a modernist villa designed by artist Moray Thomas in the 1930s. © Victoria & Albert Museum

The final highlight of Small Stories is the installation Dream House, for which 20 artists and designers from London were each commissioned to design one tiny, fantasy-driven room. The cumulative Dream House assemblage includes a monster-family's kitchen by Peter Marigold, the longest party table in the world by Paul Piestman (PiestmanGoode), an underwater aquarium bathroom by Katy Christianson, and an exquisite lounge filled with scaled-down version of her own works by Bethan Laura Wood.

“Monsters in the Pantry“ by Peter Marigold © Victoria & Albert Museum Monsters in the Pantry by Peter Marigold: “The monsters live there quite happily as they have their own crockery on the shelves, and they are eating some food that was made by my Mum.” © Victoria & Albert Museum

Small Stories: At Home in a Dolls' House is open until September 6, and will travel across Europe and the United States subsequently.

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