Petronella Oortman’s dollhouse, The Rijksmuseum

Last year we visited the Rjksmuseum in Amsterdam for the first time, it was amazingly busy, despite having to pay quite a lot to get in when such places are free in the UK.

The photos below are of a dollhouse which was never meant to be a toy. It was owned by a woman, Petronella Oortman.  She was a wealthy woman and she spent a large amount of money on her miniature house, which is actually quite large. It’s fitted out beautifully. Having a house like this was the equivalent of a man having a cabinet of curiosities.

The doll’s house is huge. I couldn’t fit it all in one picture so the one below is a stitch of two

Petronella Oortman's Doll's House  (stitch)

Such was the Doll’s House’s fame that someone painted it. The painting hangs on a wall nearby

Painting of Petronella Oortman's Doll's House

It’s a very popular exhibit so I wasn’t able to spend as much time looking at its nine rooms as I would have liked, mind you I could have looked at it all day.

Another fairly large doll’s house belonged to another Petronella! Petronella Dunois

Petronella Dunois's Doll's House 2

A closer view of upper portion

Upper Part, Petronella Dunois's Doll's House

 

4 thoughts on “Petronella Oortman’s dollhouse, The Rijksmuseum

  1. Those are indeed lovely! I’ve seen them once and will never forget. Like you said, one could look at them all day.

    • Saila,
      I wish I had taken more photos when I was there, I doubt if we’ll be going back as Amsterdam is quite far from my brother’s home in Friseland.

  2. Your photos of the dollhouses reminded me of the cover of the “Music in a Doll’s House” album by Family — a group I used to follow. The image on the cover is credited to a publication called “The Golden Age of Toys”. It shows a dollhouse very much like the ones in your photos, though a little less grand. Scaled-down figures of the band members appear in each room of the house.

    I’ve no idea who chose the name of the album, or selected the image. None of the tracks have any connection with dollhouses.

    • Janusz,
      Jack has three Family albums – apparently – but not the one that you describe. It does seem a strange choice of album cover for them.

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