See, Touch, Feel: a Cognitive and Educational Journey through Maquettes

Abstract

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has three dolls’ houses in its collections. The most famous was realized between 1686 and 1710 by Petronella Oortman, a well-known wealthy heiress of a Dutch silk merchant (fig. 1). The model was made to 1:9 scale and measured 255 × 190 × 78 cm. For its creation, the lady spared no expense, calling on an inordinate number of artisans, painters, carvers, glassblowers, and cabinetmakers who furnished the house with some 700 custom-made pieces, all functional and made from the same materials that would have been used in the construction of their life-size counterparts. The amount spent would have been enough to buy a large house on a canal. [read more]