Scandinavian design in the dolls house

SCANDINAVIAN DESIGN IN THE DOLLS’ HOUSE

ARVINIUS FÖRLAG

SCANDINAVIAN DESIGN IN THE DOLLS’ HOUSE

YVETTE WADSTED ULF BECKMAN MICHEL HJORTH

CONTENT

PREFACE INTRODUCTION THE 1950 s THE 1960 s THE 1970s FROM THE 1980 s TO 2000 PERIOD FURNITURE 1950 – 2000 SWEDISH DOLLS’ HOUSE MANUFACTURERS BIBLIOGRAPHY PICTURES GUIDE

7 9 15 59 103 139 191 215 239 243

Ikea’s designer products are also detectable from 1960s production of doll’s house furniture. But it was now that real designer furniture made its first appearance in doll’s house format. The now-classical models by Danish architect Arne Jacobsen are obtainable, made to a suitable scale, from BRIO, which offers the Egg (with foot stool), Swan and Ant for modernising the dolls’ house, as well as other models by both Swedish and Danish designers.

In matters of detail, the 60s were the time when Lundby dolls’ houses acquired the form which they more or less retained thereafter. The interiors finally acquired the genuine Scandinavian standard bathroom, with all details designed by the big Nordic manufacturers; the Anglo-Saxon style vanished completely.

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SWEDISH DOLLS’ HOUSE MANUFACTURERS This is an overview of dolls’ houses made by the three biggest manufacturers – BRIO, Lundby and Micki – between 1955 and 2000. The house models, like their furniture, derived inspiration from the prefab catalogues of real life. Both interior and exterior present details which could be seen in typical working class homes of middle class detached houses of the 50s, 60s and 70s: the spiral staircase, the flat pitch of the roof, the staircase screened off by a wall of vertical wooden slats, or picture windows with no bars, opening “crosswise”, just like their big prototypes.

Lundby’s first doll’s house, dubbed “Göteborg”, represented a real terrace house in the Göteborg (Gothenburg) region. Today it is made by Micki and has been renamed “Småland”.

The bigger and more luxurious houses, such as “Stockholm”, “The Manor” and “Tudor”, are not included here. They represent the dream of a life beyond Scandinavian everyday existence which falls outside the scope of this book, but they must be fun to play with!

Exhibitions of Swedish dolls’ houses and dollhouse furniture were curated by Yvette Wadsted in London 2004 at the Museum of Childhood (V& A) entitled “Home Swede Home” with funding support from the Swedish Institute and Micki AB, and in 2007 at the American Swedish Institute sponsered by Micki AB. Each doll’s house had been fitted out to a particular theme, describing typical and important events of the Swedish year. There was a house for Midsummer festivities, with a maypole outside in the garden, and another house prepared for a student matriculation party, with the newly matriculated student arriving in a flag-bedecked open car. A third house was set for a birthday party, with a big long table and lucky dip in the garden, while in a fourth the dolls were celebrating Christmas, with the electrified Christmas tree turned on in the living room, the sauna heated and a mirror pool provided for the sauna bathers to cool off in.

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1957

Electrics, doors and spiral staircase of spruce wood, cardboard banister, red-painted roof.

Left /right end walls identical, red brick.

Was also obtainable decorated.

Left/right end walls identical, windows framed.

Straight spruce wood staircase.

Left/right end walls identical, pale red brick.

Straight spruce wood staircase like that of the NK villa.

1957

The NK villa, electrics, spruce wood doors, roof painted green.

1958

Electrics, flat roof painted metallic green, pink chimney.

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1960

Electrics, spruce wood doors, cardboard banister, bathroom floored with blue glazed tiling.

Undulating roof painted metallic green, pink chimney.

Left/right end walls identical, red brick, skylight.

Left/right end walls identical, red brick.

Two-colour bathroom flooring, red and blue glazed tiling.

1963

Electrics, flat roof painted metallic green, pink chimney.

1964

Electrics, spruce wood doors, roof painted metallic green, white chimney. Available for export without skylight.

Left/right end walls red brick, skylight, blue window frames.

Two-colour bathroom flooring, red and white glazed tiling.

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THE AUTHORS Yvette Wadsted is a textile artist who attended Konstfack (the Swedish University College of Arts, Crafts and Design) in the 60s, and whose work is represented in a number of government buildings. She is interested in miniatures, antique dolls, bric-a-brac, old textiles and, not least, gardening.

Ulf Beckman (1944 – 2010) was a journalist and author and for 15 years Chief Editor of the journal Form, previous to which he helped found the Swedish home furnishing magazine Sköna Hem. Michel Hjorth is a Swedish photographer and graphic designer based in Stockholm. His latest book is Whisky – Japan, co-authored with Henrik Aflodal, formost among Scandinavian whisky experts.

Preparations for the doll’s house exhibition in progress in Yvette Wadsted’s home. Photograph

by Pia Ulin, first published in the book Nesting, 2010, by Cilla Ramnek and Pia Ulin.

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Thank you, Elisabeth Lantz, for lending materials and dolls’ houses.

Thanks to Museum Curator Johanna Finne, who assembled the exhibition at the Museum of Childhood/V &A, London, and to Micki Leksaker AB, for defraying the transport expenses.

Thanks to Susan Hjelm, who assembled the exhibition at the American Swedish Insitute (ASI), Minneapolis, and to Micki Leksaker AB, for defraying the transport expenses to the USA.

Idea: Yvette Wadsted Text: Yvette Wadsted & Ulf Beckman Photographer: Michel Hjorth Graphic Design: Gabor Palotai Design Editor: Stina Sjöwall Translation: Roger Tanner Printed and bound by Fälth & Hässler, Värnamo, 2011 Published in 2011 by Arvinius Förlag AB, Box 6040, SE-102 31 Stockholm, Sweden Tel: +46 8 32 00 15 Fax: +46 8 32 00 95 info@arvinius.se www.arvinius.se ISBN 978-91-85213-17-9

Copyright Yvette Wadsted & Arvinius Förlag AB, 2011.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, digital, photographic or mechanical or otherwise without the prior written permission of Arvinius Förlag AB.