Sunday, March 25, 2012

Tynietoy Dollhouse

Was on vacation in Washington DC. Visiting my Assistant and the news from the sonogram is It's a boy!!!
The baby is due late July and is doubling in size. Such a miracle!

And I am suffering from a bad case of rugburn...


The news in Miniland is "It's a Tynietoy"! I am lucky enough to have found a Tynietoy Townhouse in Pennsylvania.
It required a 4 hr drive and I am in debt to my pregnant Assistant who (with great discomfort to herself) and with the best son in law in the Universe helped me pick it up in their SUV.

Here is the front wooden facade. Some of the markings one looks for are the original blue painted architectural detail around the door and lintels. I was told this was a "garage find" and had suffered some water damage.



It looks to me as if someone started renovating it, sanding the front for painting and was stopped before the original design was completely removed. The windows are poorly done in what looks like white-out on acetate. The curtains are not original. I like the front door a lot though. The floors are warped. There are 2 chimneys, one looks newer. 
The stairs going straight up look original, the hallway panels on the
second floor look, new, to me. The doorway decoration felt slightly raised as though they were made of paper and glued on, or of thick paint. The upper left bedroom had been sanded, painted an odd green and the door frame clumsily  repainted. Really a poor job. The canopy and bedspread are not original either though the bed is and came to me with the house.

But I am so lucky because many of the Townhouses were simply repainted inside and this blue detail is missing, as in the below example from a previous auction.
 This is an old picture from auction catalog showing a Townhouse repainted inside leaving no architectural detail.

Go to McKendry's seminal dollhouse history for background and to the Master herself, Susan Grimshaw at http://www.tynietown.com/.  She has collected Tynietoy since she was a child and is writing a book about it.

Oh, the rugburn??? I went from my Happy Shaw House where I kept my Tynietoy furniture and this Townhouse back and forth, faster and faster. I have hardwood floors at home and was not used to kneeling on wall to wall carpet. When I woke up the next morning I was dismayed to have a bad case of rug burn on my knees. The kids thought it was hilarious...

So Susan is in isolation, still in the hospital and they are testing for pneumonia. OK Susan! That's enough of that! The rug burn humor is for you.

CM

2 comments:

Troy said...

Its a beauty! I am looking forward to your progress.

My Realitty said...

Hi Troy. I am just so happy to have it I love every little flaw. C