Doll's houses
Dollhouses (Basle German: "Doggetekänsterli") were a popular toy that was long restricted to children from upper-class families. In Basel, the dollhouses with their rich and delicate contents were usually kept in lockable cupboards. Children (mostly girls) could play with them almost only under supervision. Adults then also took over the explanations about the function of the rooms etc., so that the functioning of a household and also social norms were learned on the basis of the doll's houses. With the advent of smaller doll's houses, which usually comprised only two rooms, these toys became affordable for wider circles.

1
Doll's house (built into a cupboard)
Basel, assembled in 1899, using objects from the 17th-19th centuries.
Walnut cabinet
Inv. 1945.63. Gift Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Chiodera-Haegler from the estate of Dr. Haegler- a Wengen, Basel.

Three rooms - parlor, kitchen and cellar - allowed the children to playfully learn about the most important areas of the household. However, they did not play alone, but under the instructional supervision of adults. Outside of this "supervised play", the cupboard with the doll's house could be locked.

2
Doll's house: store with apartment
Basel (?), around 1870/80
Inv. 1956.112.

The combination of a store and an apartment above it is rare. The doll's house has a staircase, a facade with windows in neo-Gothic forms, and a flat roof with a balustrade. It was made for the children of the Basel councillor Johann Jakob Im Hof-Rüsch (1815-1900).

3
Doll's house
Basel, around 1840.
Inv. 1941.43. Gift Luise Meyer, Basel.

A dollhouse with four equally sized rooms was built into a small wooden cabinet: bedroom, living room, dining room and kitchen. The dollhouse could be closed with cabinet doors. It comes from the Ewig family in Basel.

4
Doll's house
Basel, around 1850.
Inv. 1941.96. Gift Julie Schaub, Basel.

In this wooden cabinet with five rooms, surprisingly, the kitchen is located at the very top; usually - as in real houses of that time - it is located on one of the lower floors. Remarkable are the stained glass windows with painted views: they are hung in front of the wall like pictures.

5
Doll's house with roof
Basel, around 1875/80.
Inv. 1969.473. Gift Mrs. D. Schulthess-Massini, Münchenstein.

Three-story doll's house with seven rooms and an attic located under the roof covered with wooden shingles. Seven windows in the back of the house

This dollhouse was not built into an existing closet, but was created specifically as a dollhouse. It has seven rooms, an attic, a roof covered with shingles and seven windows in the back wall. It belonged to Julie ("Kiku") Merian (1871-1971) from Basel and her sisters.

6
Doll's house
Basel, around 1880 (house), Thuringia (wooden furniture) and Württemberg (tin furniture)
Inv. 1976.33. Geschnek Frieda Clavadetscher, Lucerne.

The doll's house, built into a small cupboard, came from the Bertolf family, who ran a colonial goods shop in Basel. The contents could be bought in Basel toy shops; the small furniture was mostly made in Thuringia (wooden furniture) and Württemberg (tin furniture).

7
Two-sided dollhouse
Basel, Ludwig Adam Kelterborn (1811 Hannover-1878 Basel), ca. 1845/50
Inv. 1949.51. Gift of the granddaughters of Ludwig Adam Kelterborn, Basel.

This architecturally constructed doll's house depicts the living culture of the Basel upper class. The master's cabinet, laundry room, maid's room, etc. show the differentiated room functions. The painter Ludwig Adam Kelterborn created it around 1845/50 for his three daughters Elise (born 1840), Emma (born 1847) and Lina (born 1851).

Cylindrical tiled stove
Basel (?), around 1840
Earthenware, green glazed, brass doors
Inv. 1961.8. gift M. F. Lindenmeyer-Christ, Basel.

The green-glazed tiled stove, which stands on four lion paws and has an openwork arched frieze at the upper end, originally stood in the Olsberger Hof at Rittergasse 27 in Basel.