Category:Waltershausen

The German town of Waltershausen, Thuringia was a centre for doll and dollhouse furniture manufacture in the late Nineteenth Century and early Twentieth Century, with a manufacturing ecosystem that included at least sixteen different firms and unknown numbers of homeworkers. Firms included J. D. Kestner and Schneegass.

Due to the amount of artistic cross-fertilisation and subcontracting, the town's manufacturing developed a distinct style of its own, specialising in gold ornamentation on wood, often printed onto paper decals. As well as some product lines apparently crossing over between firms, it seems likely that at least some of the paper-printing work may have been done by outside printers, who may have been used by multiple makers.

Due to the difficulty (and sometimes impossibility) of identifying which Waltershausen firm actually produced a given piece, "Waltershausen" has become a generic term for pieces produced in the area.

In the Museum

There is a range of Waltershausen dollhouse furniture on display in the new (2016) Antique and Vintage Dollhouse Furniture display. As of April 2016 this is still waiting for individual listings.

External links

• Walterhausen town website (waltershausen.de) – translation
• The Doll Factories of Waltershausen "Für Kinder ist das Beste Gut Genug", by Mary B. Lytle (puppentour.com)
• "Beloved Boulle - A glimpse of two dolls house furniture factories in Waltershausen" (J. D. Kestner and Schneegass), by Swantje Köhler (dollshousespastandpresent.com)
• The Drew House, Victoria and Albert Museum (vam.ac.uk/moc)