22 Queen Mary’s Miniature Vase

This vase was designed for Queen Mary’s Doll’s House, a miniature Baroque Palace at 1:12 scale designed by Sir Edward Lutyens and built between 1921 and 1924. The house was a gift from the nation to Queen Mary, consort of King George V, in the years after the First World War. The focus was to showcase British workmanship at this time of recover. Leading firms were commissioned to design and produce 1000 works of art suitable for a royal residence, all in miniature. Most of the manufacturers involved were Royal Warrant holders like Royal Worcester.

The objects made for the Doll’s House had to be perfectly to scale, that of one twelfth of normal size. This vase is a miniature representation of a Dr Wall hexagonal vase, measuring only 3cm! It was painted by George Johnson who specialised in painting birds and reproducing early Worcester designs. Queen Mary chose to display four of these Worcester vases in the Doll’s House, placing both pairs on mantelpieces in the King’s Bedchamber and the saloon. The House was first shown to the public in the 1924 British Empire Exhibition and is now on display in Windsor Castle.