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Doll's Kitchen

Period1890 - 1930

Place MadeGermany

MediumPine, tin, brass; glazed ceramic, tin, brass, lead

Dimensions10.5 × 15.5 × 5.25 in. (26.7 × 39.4 × 13.3 cm)

ClassificationsDolls

Credit LineGift of Mrs. W. F. Clark, 1931

Object number73

DescriptionA miniature toy kitchen room, consisting of a wedge-shaped base, flat rear wall, and angled side walls. A small bench-style cooking hearth runs along the entire back wall. The bench is fitted with two removeable tin bowls. Two low arches are cut into the front of the bench, flanked by molded brass decorative panels. The kitchen's walls are painted in yellow and red to resemble bricks. The lower portion of the walls and hearth are painted black, with white marbling at either side of the bench. The floor is painted red. Numerous brass brads fixed in the wall panels serve as hooks for a variety of miniature pots, pans, and kitchen utensils.
Curatorial RemarksThis charming doll's kitchen is most likely of German manufacture. Through much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Germany dominated the toy industry. It is believed that more than half of the toys sold in the United States during this time were made in Germany. Dolls, dollhouses, and doll furniture from Germany were highly prized in part because of their excellent quality and construction. Single room pieces, such as this simple kitchen space, were popular well into the 1930s. These toys offered their young owners the ability to furnish the space with inexpensive tin, lead, and ceramic miniature dishes, pots, pans, and kitchen utensils. This kitchen is furnished with a wide variety of such items from the Association's collection of doll furniture and accessories, all dating between 1870 and 1930.NotesThis charming toy kitchen was donated to the Historical Association by Catherine Suydam Clark (1867 - 1934). Mrs. Clark was the wife of Rev. William F. Clark, minister of the Baptist Church in Point Pleasant, Ocean County, New Jersey. Mrs. Clark's kitchen was the first toy donated to the Association after the opening of the headquarters building in Freehold in October 1931.

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