Kings, Queens and Princely Palaces Part 1

One of the questions we are asked most here at Dolls House towers, is ‘What period is this piece of furniture?’ In truth, it’s not always easy to say as fashions didn’t change the minute a new monarch was crowned and just like today, back then we wouldn’t have thrown out a Georgian chair simply because it wasn’t fashionable any more, it may be still be a beautiful and practical piece of furniture. Additionally, some periods can be generalised, for example, the Georgian period includes the Regency period of architecture and design and the term Georgian is sometimes used to refer to this more specific period. It’s also important to remember that it is your dolls’ house to do what you want with it, be creative and mix periods if you wish, after all, no one really lives in a shrine to one era do they?! – (maybe you do, in which case send us pictures!)

All that said, over the next few weeks we are entering dangerous waters as we endeavour to start a small guide to the most popular periods. If you like what you read or if you have some other suggestions and contributions, please do comment.

So let’s start with one of the easiest to define, allegedly.

Tudor furniture and household accoutrements are easier to define then some of the later periods, simply because the Tudor period is very distinctive and although it spanned a long period, roughly classed as from 1485 until the end of the Elizabethan era in 1603, because the world wasn’t changing at such a rapid rate as today, it is much easier to attribute your dolls’ house accessories correctly.

With a lot of worn oak and walnut timbers, wrought pewter salvers and rich fabrics for wall hangings and dress fabrics , Tudor dolls’ houses can be researched and developed to be an accurate portrayal of life back then. Tudor architecture still exists around us and the classic timber framed houses of York and Stratford-upon-Avon  provide imaginations with reams of creative input. Some houses would have featured fully panelled rooms, whereas others had white washed walls. Googling ‘tudor interiors’ produces a wealth of enlightening images. For costumes try this great game on the BBC , where you can have a look at Victorians too (more on them later in the series).

Try this ‘real life’ interiors company for further inspiration and historical context.

As they say on the television, tune in next week for the next installment when we try to encapsulate over 100 years of the Georgian era, wish us luck!

The Dolls House Emporium is not responsible for the content of external websites.