Furniture
The Museum’s collection of children’s furniture is probably the largest in the UK, with over one hundred pieces ranging from a traditional English oak cradle dated 1641 to an ergonomically designed Norwegian high chair of the 1990s. Some pieces are suited to a child’s use, such as the 18th century commode chair. Others, like the impractical gilt-decorated cradle of 1810, are a reminder that children’s safety and comfort in the past was often dependent on help and supervision by adults. Some pieces, such as the baby-walkers, show changing ideas about childcare. The most spectacular and unusual piece in the collection seems at first sight to be a large dolls house, dated 1712 and resembling the Queen’s House at Kew, but is in fact a child’s wardrobe.
Wardrobe
At first glance this object looks just like a doll's house. But it's much more unusual - it is in fact a wardrobe with pegs for cloaks, jackets and skirts; and drawers and shelves at the sides for other garments.
Deportment Chair
This deportment chair is also known as the Astley Cooper Chair. It was the invention of Sir Astley Paston Cooper (1768-1841), a surgeon and anatomist. He developed it to correct faulty posture in children: the design of the chair forces children to sit on it correctly.
High chair
This baby's high chair, of turned wood, is mounted on four metal wheels. Manufacturers added feeding trays to the basic design of the high chair in the 19th century. Before this, an adult would push the high chair as close as possible to the edge of the table where the child's food was placed.
Rocking Chair
This is a child's rocking chair made in 1865 by the Austrian furniture-making company, Thonet. They are strong but lightweight, and have slender curved lines - this was a great contrast to the heavy furniture which many people had in their homes.
Weighing and Exercise Chair
Not just a highchair, but a piece of furniture which would also weigh and exercise a child. A child sitting in it could grasp a handle on each side and get lots of healthy exercise by bouncing up and down. There was also originally a mechanism which made the seat work like bathroom scales.
Tripp Trapp Highchair
The modern beech wood 'Tripp Trapp' high chair is adjustable so that it can be used throughout life. As the child grows, the high back and baby rail can be removed, and the depth, height of the seat and footrest changed.
