Today, I am going to talk about the Edwardian time period: the style, the architecture, some history, the interior, and of course, our Edwardian dollhouses.
Let's just dive straight into things!
updated 29.07.23
What Is The Edwardian Time Period?
In general, you can say that the Edwardian time period started after the death of Queen Victoria in 1901. And it ended with the start of the Second World War.
This period started at the beginning of a new century (the 20th). It can be characterized as a period in which the British Empire was at the height of its existence.
You could still say that the British class society was still clearly profiled. With huge differences between a small prosperous upper class and a large underclass, still living in poverty.
In general, you can say that there was a belief in progress, stimulated by all kinds of inventions and new scientific discoveries.
This time period also started with the emancipation of the industrial working class and women had a few more roles in politics.
If you are interested in more information about the way of life of the Edwardians, you might have a look at this almost 2 hours long YouTube video:
It was in the Edwardian time period that the British Empire started to lose some of its world's empire power to the USA and to the German empire.
Don't Confuse Edwardian Dolls Houses with Victorian dollhouses.
Although the Victorian age and the Edwardian era have some similarities (both are named after the reigns on the throne during that time period), there are some major differences.
The Victorian age ( 1837-1901) was earlier than the Edwardian and the latter had different morals. While the Victorian era was very conservative, the Edwardians had a more lax standard in their code of conduct.
The Edwardian architecture.
Edwardian-style homes and dollhouses have a lot fewer decorations than the ones in High or Late Victorian architecture. It seems that the Edwardian 'Baroque' architecture is an exception to this.
The style is characterized by the use of light colors and simple patterns. Mostly it was inspired by Victorian architecture, but the Georgian, Classicist, Jugendstil, and Art Nouveau style, also played a role.
Have a tour around 'Manderston House' on YouTube. It is an Edwardian country house:
What's important to know, regarding Edwardian-style dollhouses, is that it became more and more common for houses to have electricity, phones, indoor plumbing, and even cars!
Here are a few characteristics of an Edwardian house that you need to consider:
- the homes have straight lines
- they have red brickwork
- Dutch gables can be present
- the rooms are wide and bright
- they have parquet wooden floors
- a wide hallway
- the top of the house has Mock-Tudor cladding and timbers
- the porch has wooden frames