5 ms·

The Queen's Doll's House

53 points by arbesman 2y ago

femto 2y ago
> But Mr. O’Grady must have been the first writer to seriously consider the physics of the miniature. Railway modelers (and probably ship modelers before them) were in this domain before that. Real water doesn't look right on a model layout. Also things like the practical dimensions of the rails and the speed at which things move. The scaling of the physics is important for a live steam model, as it affects the operation as well as the physics. Apart from that, scale models were a primary engineering tool before the advent of computer simulation [1]. Models are still used for training ship pilots [2], and these models must account for how physical properties scale. [1] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9783433609613 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/97834336096... [2] https://www.portash.com.au/ https://www.portash.com.au/
- msq 2y ago
  > (...) and these models must account for how physical properties scale. Tom Scott made a video about similar facility in Poland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jplrbxI5GN8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jplrbxI5GN8
Animats 2y ago
I've seen that doll house referred to as a shining example of between-the-wars British craftsmanship.
- flir 2y ago
  There are modern equivalents. Mulvany and Rogers have a reputation for working with the best, for example. https://mulvanyandrogers.com/gallery/ https://mulvanyandrogers.com/gallery/
  - surfingdino 2y ago
    And this https://bellerbyandco.com/ https://bellerbyandco.com/
    - flir 2y ago
      Those are lovely. Some of them remind me of the mount on the Edmund Scientific Astroscan telescope. But have they made a doll-scale version?
      - surfingdino 2y ago
        AFAIK, the smallest they make is 12cm in diameter.
egypturnash 2y ago
> It’s unholy, and that’s because dollhouses are not made to be lived in; they’re barely fun to play with. Dollhouses are for looking. What? They’re sets for telling stories with. Barbie dumped Ken for Skipper, and then Darty Vader moved in when his spaceship crashed. Now the Smurfs and the Ponies are besieging the dollhouse along with the Warhammer elves your brother started painting. Can Darty’s Force powers save the day?
- flir 2y ago
  There's a disconnect between childrens' miniatures and adults' miniatures. All those 1/6 scale vinyl collectibles that sit untouched on geeky bookshelves? Same deal. Having said that, some people love the building, and lose interest once the project's done. I think model boat makers often fall into that camp.
- beAbU 2y ago
  Now all I can think of is a once-off haunted mansion DnD game using a dollhouse as the set!
  - egypturnash 2y ago
    That sounds awesome. A great excuse for adults to play with dolls!
Tokkemon 2y ago
I've seen this Doll House in person recently, it's on display at Windsor Castle. While it's extremely weird that it exists at all, if you get past that, it's an exceptional example of art and craft. So much incredible detail. It's unfortunate that it's behind glass and you can't really spend good time with it, because I could imagine being in there for hours and still not seeing all the nuances. I suppose it's the same reason I love Miniland at Legoland. Huge miniature worlds so meticulously crafted. It boggles the mind.
- surfingdino 2y ago
  It means it did what was supposed to--inspire, stimulate imagination.
fuzzythinker 2y ago
Royale Collection Trust site (linked): https://www.rct.uk/collection/stories/queen-marys-dolls-house https://www.rct.uk/collection/stories/queen-marys-dolls-hous... Good short video there.
hnbear 2y ago
Reminded me of Lester’s comments in The Wire that he makes substantially more money making miniatures for dollhouse collectors than he does working as a cop.
allturtles 2y ago
Colleen Moore's fairy castle also dates from the 1920s, and is also very impressive. It's on display in Chicago.[0] Evidently the dining set in the Moore castle is a copy of the one in the Queen's Doll's House. [1] [0]: https://www.msichicago.org/explore/whats-here/exhibits/colleen-moores-fairy-castle https://www.msichicago.org/explore/whats-here/exhibits/colle... [1]: https://www.msichicago.org/explore/whats-here/exhibits/colleen-moores-fairy-castle/exhibit/kitchen https://www.msichicago.org/explore/whats-here/exhibits/colle...
bitwize 2y ago
One of the intriguing things about The Secret World of Arrietty is that they animated to account for the difference in the Borrowers' size. Every liquid they handle, for example, during cooking -- even water -- appears much more viscous than it would be at human scale.
- smegsicle 2y ago
  they stole the idea from antz
tveita 2y ago
The text of Arthur Conan Doyle's short story for the library is available online https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/How_Watson_Learned_the_Trick https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/How_Watson_Lear...
deaverpamela 2y ago
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53 points by arbesman 2y ago

> But Mr. O’Grady must have been the first writer to seriously consider the physics of the miniature. Railway modelers (and probably ship modelers before them) were in this domain before that. Real water doesn't look right on a model layout. Also things like the practical dimensions of the rails and the speed at which things move. The scaling of the physics is important for a live steam model, as it affects the operation as well as the physics. Apart from that, scale models were a primary engineering tool before the advent of computer simulation [1]. Models are still used for training ship pilots [2], and these models must account for how physical properties scale. [1] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9783433609613 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/97834336096... [2] https://www.portash.com.au/ https://www.portash.com.au/

msq 2y ago
> (...) and these models must account for how physical properties scale. Tom Scott made a video about similar facility in Poland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jplrbxI5GN8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jplrbxI5GN8

Animats 2y ago

I've seen that doll house referred to as a shining example of between-the-wars British craftsmanship.

flir 2y ago
There are modern equivalents. Mulvany and Rogers have a reputation for working with the best, for example. https://mulvanyandrogers.com/gallery/ https://mulvanyandrogers.com/gallery/
- surfingdino 2y ago
  And this https://bellerbyandco.com/ https://bellerbyandco.com/
  - flir 2y ago
    Those are lovely. Some of them remind me of the mount on the Edmund Scientific Astroscan telescope. But have they made a doll-scale version?
    - surfingdino 2y ago
      AFAIK, the smallest they make is 12cm in diameter.

egypturnash 2y ago

> It’s unholy, and that’s because dollhouses are not made to be lived in; they’re barely fun to play with. Dollhouses are for looking. What? They’re sets for telling stories with. Barbie dumped Ken for Skipper, and then Darty Vader moved in when his spaceship crashed. Now the Smurfs and the Ponies are besieging the dollhouse along with the Warhammer elves your brother started painting. Can Darty’s Force powers save the day?

flir 2y ago
There's a disconnect between childrens' miniatures and adults' miniatures. All those 1/6 scale vinyl collectibles that sit untouched on geeky bookshelves? Same deal. Having said that, some people love the building, and lose interest once the project's done. I think model boat makers often fall into that camp.
beAbU 2y ago
Now all I can think of is a once-off haunted mansion DnD game using a dollhouse as the set!
- egypturnash 2y ago
  That sounds awesome. A great excuse for adults to play with dolls!

Tokkemon 2y ago

I've seen this Doll House in person recently, it's on display at Windsor Castle. While it's extremely weird that it exists at all, if you get past that, it's an exceptional example of art and craft. So much incredible detail. It's unfortunate that it's behind glass and you can't really spend good time with it, because I could imagine being in there for hours and still not seeing all the nuances. I suppose it's the same reason I love Miniland at Legoland. Huge miniature worlds so meticulously crafted. It boggles the mind.

surfingdino 2y ago
It means it did what was supposed to--inspire, stimulate imagination.

fuzzythinker 2y ago

Royale Collection Trust site (linked): https://www.rct.uk/collection/stories/queen-marys-dolls-house https://www.rct.uk/collection/stories/queen-marys-dolls-hous... Good short video there.

hnbear 2y ago

Reminded me of Lester’s comments in The Wire that he makes substantially more money making miniatures for dollhouse collectors than he does working as a cop.

allturtles 2y ago

Colleen Moore's fairy castle also dates from the 1920s, and is also very impressive. It's on display in Chicago.[0] Evidently the dining set in the Moore castle is a copy of the one in the Queen's Doll's House. [1] [0]: https://www.msichicago.org/explore/whats-here/exhibits/colleen-moores-fairy-castle https://www.msichicago.org/explore/whats-here/exhibits/colle... [1]: https://www.msichicago.org/explore/whats-here/exhibits/colleen-moores-fairy-castle/exhibit/kitchen https://www.msichicago.org/explore/whats-here/exhibits/colle...

bitwize 2y ago

One of the intriguing things about The Secret World of Arrietty is that they animated to account for the difference in the Borrowers' size. Every liquid they handle, for example, during cooking -- even water -- appears much more viscous than it would be at human scale.

smegsicle 2y ago
they stole the idea from antz

tveita 2y ago

The text of Arthur Conan Doyle's short story for the library is available online https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/How_Watson_Learned_the_Trick https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/How_Watson_Lear...

deaverpamela 2y ago

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