Dollhouse
1 of 75
Object Label
Like many toys, doll’s houses teach children how to live and behave in the adult world. In offering up the entire domestic world at a glance, doll’s houses also reflect, in particular, how objects surround human lives and exert their influence on us.
This doll’s house was designed by Gerrit Rietveld, one of the most important furniture designers, architects, and advocates of modernism in the early twentieth century. It was made for the children of the Jesse family, whom he was visiting at the time. Here, the children—Anita and Matcheld—could envision a pared-down lifestyle, surrounded by tasteful modern objects, in the postwar world.
Caption
Gerrit Th. Rietveld Dutch, 1888–1964; Jacobus (Koos) van Vliet Dutch, born 1922, active mid–20th century; Piet van Gelder Dutch, active mid 20th century. Dollhouse, 1952. Wood, metals, textiles, other materials, 24 x 36 x 24 in. (61.0 x 91.4 x 61.0 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Marcus S. Friedlander, by exchange, 2008.74. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.2008.74_back_plan.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Designer
Title
Dollhouse
Date
1952
Medium
Wood, metals, textiles, other materials
Classification
Dimensions
24 x 36 x 24 in. (61.0 x 91.4 x 61.0 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Marcus S. Friedlander, by exchange
Accession Number
2008.74
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Frequent Art Questions
Did Rietveld design any other toys in his career?
Yes, he did, we have in our collections a dollhouse that he also designed. Rietveld himself had six children, and many of his friends had kids, for whom he created toys. The dollhouse in particular was designed for the children of his friends, the Jesse family.
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