I am glad that I am not a collector, because I know myself well, and if I start collecting seriously, I will get stuck and spend all my money and have no peace of mind until I have collected whatever I am collecting. For instance, I have collected all House of Miniatures kits (except one that is very rare and therefore ridiculously expensive when it turns up on ebay; I have only seen it twice). I now have many duplicates, but I am no longer maniacal about having them all. Besides, if I were a collector, I would keep them in unopened sealed boxes. Instead, I build them and use them in my projects.
With my recent purchase, I am venturing into the dangerous path of collecting. A piece such as a Triang dollhouse is valuable - both in monetary sense and as a cultural artifact - because it is old and shabby and authentic.With many of my previous projects, I gave no thought to possible cultural value of my pieces because there wasn't any. I upcycled my Tudor house, adding both exterior and interior details, replacing a plain wooden fireplace with an intricate inglenook, and more. With my retro house, I saved it from ruins and felt free to do whatever I wanted with it. With Helen Hall, I turned a plastic horror into a lovely house that the former owner wanted back. And of course I have built Womble Hall from scratch, and although I aspire to be period-correct, I am not damaging anything old.
It will be different with Triang. It's tempting to paint it, replace worn-out wallpaper and flooring. But it would be profoundly wrong. I fell for it because it was old and authentic, and it would be a sacrilege to subject it to a makeover. But what about a gentle restoration? They do restore paintings and other objects in museums. They are going to rebuild Notre-Dame! So if my ambition is to restore the house to its original shape (rather than renovate it in a 21st-century style) then I believe it's justifiable. For instance, there are beams missing on the timber-framed gables. I only noticed it when I brought the house home and inspected it (might have been a negotiating point with the shop owner).
Now, a collector would probably say: the missing beams add to the authenticity and value of the item. But I am not a collector, and I want my house to look if not new, but well taken care of. It's easy to make timber-frame beams, although it took me some time to match the colour. One day when I am gone and my children get rid of the house, a collector would say: What kind of idiot replaced these beams! But until then, I will look at my house and feel happy.
There are more details to repair and replace, so come back soon.
I would be very interested to see what you do with this Triang house, and people's thoughts on it, because I also have one from the same era, in worse conditon than yours. My fingers have been itching for years to fix it up a little.
ReplyDeleteThere is a book by Marion Osborne all about Tri-ang houses, she is an expert. I'm sure you would find it interesting
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