Queen Mary's Dolls' House - Part 2

It is built to outlast us all, to carry on into the future and different world this pattern of our own. It is a serious attempt to express our age and to show forth in dwarf proportions the limbs of our present world. William Newton, editor of Architectural Review, once said of the dining room that it is a room where parade rather than nourishment is the first consideration. The Doll's House dining room is, according to Queen Mary, well suited to entertaining on a grand scale. Silver dinner service for 18 people was kept in the strong room on the lower floor in a locked cabinet accessible only to the butler. The dinner service included everything needed including this silver kettle which had an ivory handle, hinged dome lid, and a heating stand with leaf-shaped feet. The tablecloth was replicated from an actual tablecloth which Princess Marie Louise borrowed from Buckingham Palace. She sent the cloth to Belfast to be copied to scale by the Old Bleach Linen Company. The royal coat of arms can be seen in the center. For formal entertaining without a meal, the King and Queen would have used the saloon on the floor above the dining room. The sofas and chairs found here were created in the style of King Louis XV and covered in petty point embroidery. In the saloon, guests might have been entertained by the centerpiece of the saloon, the grand piano. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and made by John Broadwood and Sons. The piano was painted by Thomas Matthews Rook with various scenes including a maiden offering flowers to Apollo on the lid, various cherubs, and musical stabs around the sides, and a depiction of Earth Mother on the inside of the lid. It is fully strung and includes genuine ebony and ivory keys. The royal couple would have sat on their silvered wood and red velvet thrones while their guests enjoyed the comforts of a pair of sofas which were created in the style of Louis XVI. They were upholstered by Mrs. de Pennington who used incredibly minute petty point needlework to complete this project. In his book, The Book of the Queen's Doll's House, E.V. Lucas once said, How many London residences, even in Berkeley Square and Park Lane, have a library consisting of 200 books written in their authors' own hands and a collection of over 700 watercolors by living artists? I doubt even if you could find the counterpart of these in the real Buckingham Palace. In the 1920s, household libraries were usually themed around the man of the house, often similar to today's man's cave, a combination gun room, smoking parlor, and study. With its walnut paneling, the library provides the perfect ambiance for such pursuits as stamp collecting, reading, gaming, planning the next hunting excursion, and the occasional smoking inspired contemplation of life, the universe, and everything. Princess Marie Louise and author E.V. Lucas acted as librarians. Each book was individually cataloged and the collection was organized by them. She contacted 200 famous writers of the time, most of which graciously contributed to the library, providing hand-scripted short stories, most of which have never been published except for this doll's house. For some reason, George Bernard Shaw and Virginia Woolf refused the invitation. However, names such as Rudyard Kipling, who had written a book of verses for the doll's house, Joseph Conrad, Robert Graves, A.A. Milne, and even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who hand-wrote a 500-word short story called How Watson Learned the Trick, contributed to the library. The Morning Post even printed the day's paper in miniature for Tuesday, 9th of October, 1922, so the king would be able to read the day's headlines and keep up on current events. I hope that you have enjoyed the second part of this exploration of Queen Mary's doll's house. In the third and final part, I will be showing and discussing some more areas of the house, including the garden, garage, cellar, kitchen, and pantry, as well as some other various rooms and features in this incredible work of art. I know that I mentioned the various paintings, prints, and other forms of artwork, but I have decided to leave that out for now. I may come back to that in the future. I hope that you will consider subscribing to my channel so that you will be notified when the next part comes out. I also enjoy reading your comments and suggestions, and I always reply to each one I get. I want to thank the Royal Collection Trust for giving me permission to use the footage from their website. A link to their site and Queen Mary's doll's house exhibit can be found in the description below. I encourage anyone and everyone who is interested to please visit their site, and if you are ever in London near Windsor Castle, I encourage you to visit the doll's house in person and, if possible, contribute to their restoration and conservation fund. And as always, have a better day.