The dolls’ house at Uppark

Finely decorated interiors

The rooms are filled with delicate porcelain, imported silks, fine furniture and Flemish-style oil paintings. The chairs are richly carved from mahogany and ivory with silk and leather seat cushions, the furniture carries intricate inlays and real marble tops, the silverware is hallmarked, and the candles are real – the glass hoods suspended from the ceiling are to prevent smoke stains.

Class distinctions

As a product of its time, there is a clear divide between those who lived upstairs and the servants below. The grandest furniture and finest decorations are reserved for the upstairs rooms, but the dolls themselves reveal an even clearer distinction. The lords and ladies are made from wax and dressed in fashionable fabrics trimmed with gold thread, whereas the servants are more robustly made from wood and wear far simpler clothing.

What was it for?

Some dolls' houses were created as extravagant playthings for young children, but the remarkable condition of Uppark's example, and the fact that the dolls do not have articulated limbs allowing them to be posed, means this is doubtful in this case.

Other 'baby houses' were intended as a teaching aid, perhaps to instruct a future lady of the house about the running of a large household. However, since many of the rooms required for this task are missing, particularly the service areas, this also seems unlikely.

A third possibility is that the house was an elaborate curiosity, an exquisitely detailed display of wealth and taste to be admired by Sarah Lethieullier and her friends.

Is it original?

We know from extensive paint analysis that the exterior of the house has been repainted twice, while the interior has been partially repainted once. During construction, it seems a red-brick effect for the façade was trialled but quickly rejected in favour of a simple cream-coloured oil paint. 

The statues on top of the pediment were originally covered in glazed silver leaf to achieve a silver-gilt effect, although this has long been lost in the subsequent redecorations. The present off-white paint is a lead-based formulation, which could have been applied any time before the 1940s. The Lethieullier coat of arms and the interior marbling to fireplaces and dining room niche are, however, original.

Conserving the dolls' house for the future

An exciting discovery

Jane Smith, Senior Conservator, explains: ‘Often, doing conservation work allows you to look at the objects really closely, and you discover things as you’re working. We were very excited with the red and yellow bed when we saw the top of the tester [part of a type of four-poster bed]. The card on there is made from uncut Georgian playing cards. To see these lovely designs was a real find for us.’

In 2023, parts of the dolls' house went to the National Trust's conservation studio for cleaning and repair work. Conservators gently removed surface dirt from the beds using low-suction vacuuming tools followed by polyurethane sponges. Some items were ‘wet cleaned’ too, which involved soaking them in a tray to release dirt in the fabric’s fibres. A conservation-grade detergent was then applied using a fine sponge to remove soiling that had built up over the years. 

The dolls and their clothes

The dolls’ clothes, a mix of printed cotton and elaborate and sophisticated silk brocades, required particularly gentle handling. Wear and tear had occurred where dolls had ‘perched’ on chairs, the creasing and folds in the fabric eventually causing splitting.
Damage to the dolls themselves meant that the textiles were less supported too, and there was general wear on sleeves, cuffs, bodices, petticoats and coats.

To prevent the textiles degenerating further, surface cleaning was carried out which included using a tiny museum vacuum cleaner and soft goat-hair brush attachment. Adhesive crepeline fabric dealt with splits in the fabric, and silk petticoats were covered with a fine net to prevent more deterioration. New supports for each doll allows them to stand proudly, so that their clothes can be seen clearly, and the textiles are no longer crushed.