Shown here is a detail of the Nursery, one of the many rooms in the Dunblane Doll House. Each of the pieces is functional, as well as beautifully detailed. The Nursery has its own Doll’s House (on the left), a rocking horse which rocks, a bed, cot, and tea table. Among the resident dolls is a Golliwog (on the chair to the right). The wall paper is hand painted, showing scenes from nursery rhymes.

The Dunblane Doll’s house is perhaps one of the most important 20th century pieces of its kind, in a museum collection, and it was gifted by the Gavin family who made it, to the Stirling Smith where it has been on show for the last 20 years.

Mrs Grace Gavin and her family modelled it on a dream house of the time, and built it as a means of raising money for the Red Cross in war time. The house was taken on tour from 1941-1945 to 78 different towns in Britain. Items were sold from it, and replacements were made by the Gavin family. By May 1945, it had raised £8580 for the Red Cross.

The house has been re-wired with funding from the Friends of the Smith, and given a spring clean by Collections Curator Michael McGinnes. From April 1 – 30 June it will be on show in Dunblane Museum for a special exhibition.