Day Nursery, Doll's House: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Children of all ages (even the grown-up ones) love miniatures and doll houses. Faith Bradford loved them so much that she offered to make one for the Smithsonian Institution to display in its museum. Faith used imagination and creativity to make a home and a story for Peter and Rose Doll and their ten children, five servants, twenty pets, and two grandparents who have come to visit. She filled the Dolls’ house with the furniture, appliances, and decorations that a busy family might need in the early 20th century. Some were homemade and some were store-bought. All were chosen with care.

Carol and Lucy, non-identical twins, are in the day nursery playing with their dolls while Christopher rides the rocking horse. Tuck, Lucy's cat, is having a drink from her dish and Minnie the canary is safe in her birdcage.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Object Name: Day Nursery, Doll's House
• ID Number: PL.054194
• catalog number: 54194
• accession number: 190558
• Credit Line: Faith Bradford
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.