THE 49TH ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM OF THE FURNITURE HISTORY SOCIETY ‘The Art of the Dolls’ House’

The 2025 annual symposium will be led by Dr Tessa Murdoch. This international roster of speakers will celebrate the earliest surviving European examples preserved in the Netherlands and Nuremberg. That tradition developed in England where two beautifully furnished ‘baby’ houses treasured by Huguenot heiresses are today curated by the National Trust. The dolls’ house belonging to Petronella de la Court in Utrecht complemented her contemporary art collection. 300 years later, the model of Trent Park, currently under construction, illustrates that great house during the ownership of collector and aesthete Phillip Sassoon.  Trent Park reopens to the public in June 2025.

Architect-designed Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House has just celebrated its centenary whilst the installation of dolls houses at the Young V&A by Rachel Whiteread and the curatorial team have contributed to its enviable position as 2024 Museum of the Year. The symposium will revisit these miniature homes and explore their legacy and creative inspiration as educational tools opening the eyes of successive generations through fascination with miniature worlds.

Speakers include Dr Heike Zech (Deputy Director, Germanisches Museum, Nuremberg), Dr Sara van Dijk (Curator of Textiles, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam), Kathryn Jones (Senior Curator of Decorative Arts, Royal Collection Trust), Natalie Dubois (Curator of Applied Art and Design, Centraal Museum, Utrecht), William Newton (Curator at Young V&A) and Ben Taggart (model maker of historic properties). 

The symposium will be led by Dr Tessa Murdoch and co-chaired on the day by Dr Megan Wheeler (Assistant National Curator – Furniture, National Trust).

During conference breaks there will be demonstrations of miniature furniture making by Terence Facey & with Kirstin Kennedy curator in V&A Metalwork looking at silver toys.

There will be an opportunity for delegates to visit the exhibition of Sarah Lethieullier’s 1730s Dolls’ House at the Huguenot Museum, Rochester, Kent on Friday, 21 March 2025.

Image caption: Silver Throne, miniature designed by Edwin Lutyens for Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House, 1923. Copyright Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2024/Royal Collection Trust