My Poldark House by Jen Anne of Penwith

    One of the most enjoyable aspects of acquiring and owning dolls for me and I am sure for lots of other people too, is the opportunity to name them and invent a story for them. One’s imagination soon occupies a private alternative world of one’s own creation, and it is only one further step to write some of this down and take photographs to illustrate these little lives.

    Originally I supposed I had put aside playing with dolls, except when amusing my children, but when my daughter had her first dollshouse I was captivated by the world that can gradually be put together within a series of small walls. Of course I had to have one for myself and one turned into several. I went to dollshouse fairs and saw the wonderful creations that are made for adult collectors and I was hooked. One of my most thrilling projects was a house based on a series of books. Living in Cornwall as I do, I loved the Poldark books about a family living down here in the far west of England in the latter half of the eighteenth century. Winston Graham wrote twelve books in all about the Poldarks, which were serialised on BBC TV very successfully, largely filmed on location down here.

    I could identify the house that was used in the first series to represent Nampara farmhouse, which I wanted to recreate. I took photographs and made many plans, trying to be true to the layout in the books. It was frustrating because although I could figure out how the house was arranged it did not shape up to be very satisfactory in dollshouse terms. I had an idea who I wanted to build the house for me (no, I am afraid I am not sufficiently confident of my own skills!) and I had seen his beautiful representation of the Bronte parsonage, which had a very satisfying layout, opening front and back, and allowing the opportunity for a smartish front and a back suggesting an entrance from a working farmyard. So I decided to base the house on this, but have it finished in old stone that would suggest the local stone down here, Cornish granite.

    The house was built and transported from Yorkshire to Penzance. My builder, George Parker of Hebden Bridge, had added wiring and a number of lights suitable for a house of the period that I had chosen, with scope for more. Of course the construction of the house had taken time with much conferring, and by then I had collected quite a few pieces for it. What a thrill to install them! As soon as it was dark I switched on the lights and peered in, and that is when it came to life in an uncanny way. I had flickering candles and lamps and fires that lit only limited areas of rooms and the amazing atmosphere of life lived in those times was vividly suggested at a stroke.

    I know some people think that dolls detract from the reality of a miniature house because they may not live up to the quality of the miniatures, but I was determined to have dolls. I was very fortunate to spot some pictures of dolls created by Jamie Carrington and decided to approach him to make my principal characters. He made me two brilliant servants who are funny and totally unwholesome people in the books and they could never be bettered. I also had him make me the hero and heroine, Ross Poldark the impoverished mine owner, and Demelza the girl he rescues from tormentors at a fair, and installs as a servant.

    With such “straight” characters who have captured the imagination over the reading of a number of books which follow them through some years of their lives it is much harder to be satisfied that one has the perfect representative. I felt both the dolls I received looked too old to play out the first book as I had wanted to do. But they were not to be wasted because they were fine dolls, so one was cast as Ross’s cousin Verity and the other was left as Ross until I could better him, and in fact several dolls undertook the role, made out of kits and dressed by me, as good male dolls are hard to find in the market place.

    I collected furniture and fittings over a considerable length of time, and also invited several other dollmakers to create eighteenth century characters who could come into the house at appropriate moments. I was thrilled with the Elizabeth Poldark that was made for me by Jan Clarke, I regard her as the most beautiful of my main characters, and the same artist made me another wonderful Demelza representing her when she wore decent (indeed, in this case, very fine) apparel.

    I had by then a significant collection of dolls for the house including some children so it was obvious that time had moved on…. but gradually I began to think of changing the plot of the books, rewriting them in my mind to suit the character of the dolls I had. And I suppose that was when I realised that it is dolls, and the way they dictate their own stories, that really fascinate me!

    I hope to introduce the dolls to you. The Poldark books by Winston Graham have just been reprinted in England. They are a very good read and I should not like to tell you too much about the storylines.

    Meanwhile, should anyone reading this feel inspired to write about their dollshouse or any alternative worlds involving dolls, we would be very interested to hear from him or her.

Here are some fun web links:
Here is a link to my own picture-stories of dolls in Cornwall.
In May 2010 is the Kensington Dollshouse Festival in London:
    Kensington Dollshouse Festival (pretty photos)
Link to the website of doll artist James Carrington, who created some of my dolls.
    James Carrington

       © Text and photos by Jen Anne of Penwith