Object of the Month

In a new monthly series for the website, staff at the Museum talk about their favourite objects in the collection. This month, Director Rhian Harris tells us why The Killer Cabinet Dolls' House evokes dramatic possibilities!

The Killer Cabinet Dolls' House

Made by Dr Killer of Manchester, England 1835-38

My favourite object in the Museum is the Killer Cabinet Dolls' House which you can find on the First Floor, alongside the rest of the Museum's spectacular collection of dolls' houses.

I have always loved dolls' houses. As a child, they offered not so much a glimpse into the past as an opportunity to inhabit and explore a whole different world.

The Killer Cabinet House is dated 1835-38. Dr John Killer - the very name evokes dramatic possibilities! - commissioned a dolls' house as a gift to the women in his family, made from a copy of one of his favourite cabinets.

The Killer Cabinet has a wonderful - although not murderous - element of surprise. With doors closed it appears to be a rather nice piece of mid-nineteenth century furniture, when the doors open however it's a different story! A magical dolls' house of four exquisite rooms is revealed, with each room beautifully decorated with particularly fine wallpaper.

As an adult, with a passionate interest in the history of childhood, dolls' houses reveal a telling microcosm of the world in which they were created. They reveal so much about how people lived, the society in which they lived in not to mention the taste and aesthetics of a particular period in time.

I'll let you into a little secret: I have a very personal reason for choosing The Killer Cabinet House as my favourite object. While I was waiting to be interviewed for my job at the Museum, I went for a wander around the collections looking for inspiration. When I came across The Killer Cabinet House I was mesmerised. I got the job, so the house had worked its magic...

Rhian Harris, Director, November 2009