A vintage handmade and hand-painted dollhouse, Probably made in the United States, mid 20th Century
I do not know who made the house, but I think it was an individual as it is at least partially made from reclaimed fruit crates. The roof opens on hinges and top floor slides out. 6 working doors with a seventh missing. All windows have glass panes as well as faux blinds, other than the kitchen windows they also faux lace curtains. All material is wood apart from very small nails and the door hinges. The shingled roof was made by individual layers of wood cut on either a jigsaw or fretsaw, 13 layers front, 12 layers back. Everything was hand painted including the floor tiles, wall tiles, and brick work. There was a front porch stoop that has unfortunately gone missing. The lower 2 room dividers have cracks as does one exterior windowsill and there are some chipped roof tiles (see photos).
20" long (excluding side porch) x 9.25 " wide. Height is 16" to rooftop with chimney extending a further 2.25".
Inherited
Yes
Hi Jonathan,
Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry.
The market for dollhouses widely varies, with collectors being willing to pay more money for those with either noteworthy provenance (once owned by a person of historical significance, or from a museum) or ones made by premier dollhouse makers, such as Christian Hacker (Germany, 19th Century), Moritz Gottschalk (Germany, late 19th – early 20th Century), Ernst Plank (Germany, 19th Century); Silber & Fleming (UK, late 19th Century) or Lines Bros / Tri-ang (UK, early to mid-20th Century). Also highly desirable are dollhouse replicas of famous houses (Buckingham Palace, the White House, etc).
Dollhouses of this size without furnishings and which do not meet any of the criteria as I've outlined them above usually sell for between $100-150 when recently offered at auction.
Based on the photos and information provided, and subject to examination, this is:
A vintage handmade and hand-painted dollhouse
Probably made in the United States, mid 20th Century
Two story house with hinged peaked green-painted roof with hand-cut overlapping rooftiles, both front and side door (with overhang and white-painted stoop), second story floor slides out, with glass window panes and paper curtains/shades.
18-1/4 inches overall height, 20 inches long (excluding side porch), 9-1/4 inches deep
CONDITION: This dollhouse appears to be in very good original condition
PROVENANCE: Inherited
$100-150*
*represents a fair-market value for auction purposes; retail or asking price may vary.
Please let us know if you have additional items to appraise, or questions/concerns, and thank you again for using Mearto.
~ Delia
