Tynietoy Mansion

With gratitude to the many who have generously given to The Tynietoy Heritage Fund, The Tynietoy Heritage Committee has begun furnishing The Mansion*. 

Chris Pratt began the process by giving the initial gift: a pink painted dressing screen for the nursery room.  All of this, like all of the Tynietoy furnishings, are hand painted. Often those who did the hand painting were students at RISD employed to work part-time at Tynietoy.

Generous gifts have enabled The Club to acquire two rare Tynietoy pieces (a harpsichord as well as a cast iron stove) in addition to furniture for the entire parlor. 

The photos to the right show some of the recently acquired pieces and The Tynietoy Heritage Committee members Mary Small, Chris Pratt and Alice Beckwith sharing the excitement as they unwrap the furnishings and place them inside The Mansion’s rooms. 

Furnishing The Mansion is in progress; there is still more to be done. If you would like to serve on the committee, have a piece of Tynietoy furnishing you would like to donate, or to make a monetary gift so that our furnishing can continue, please phone the Handicraft Club at 401-831-5337. 

* “The Mansion” is the model name of the Tynietoy Company miniature house which The Handicraft Club has acquired.

Tynietoy Furniture Company

The Tynietoy Furniture Company was started in 1920 by two Handicraft Club members, Marion Perkins and Amey Vernon, and made miniature furniture for dollhouses. In the early years they made the furniture at the Handicraft Club and RISD students painted it. Later, as the company expanded, they moved to larger quarters in downtown Providence. Tynietoy dollhouses were made at the Club in the 1930s and are now highly sought after by miniaturists.

Because this dollhouse speaks to the Club’s history, and in recognition of this heritage, the Club has established The Tynietoy Heritage Fund into which donations can be made for the purpose of furnishing and maintaining the Tynietoy house. Plans are afoot to offer workshops and speaker programs relating to the Tynietoy legacy, archiving the relevant documents that have come into the Club’s possession as well as preserving the memory of women members who embraced the value of handcrafted items.

The dollhouse was purchased from Susan Grimshaw, a collector who still owns templates used in the making of Tynietoy furniture. As evidence of the value of Tynietoy, Smudge McVickers has found through research that even the Newport Historical Society holds Tynietoy furniture in its collection.

Gifts to The Tynietoy Heritage Fund may be monetary or if there is a Tynietoy item somewhere in your own collection, the Club would welcome it. All gifts are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.