Petronella Oortman was a Dutch woman whose elaborate dollhouse is part of the permanent collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
The dollhouse in Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
The dollhouse, painted by Jacob Appel, 1710.
A dollhouse or doll's house is a toy house made in miniature. Since the early 20th century dollhouses have primarily been the domain of children, but their collection and crafting is also a hobby for many adults. English-speakers in North America commonly use the term dollhouse, but in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries the term is doll's house. They are often built to put dolls in.
Tudor style doll's house circa 1930
The Nostell Doll's House in West Yorkshire, England, This one-of-a kind miniature house was handcrafted in the 1730s. As that time, doll's houses were not considered to be toys; rather, they were called "baby houses" and used to teach girls how to run a household.
A 17th century Nuremberg, Germany dollhouse
Dutch cabinet dollhouse of Petronella de la Court, Amsterdam 1670-1690 on display at Centraal Museum