Petronella Oortman’s dollhouse (1680-1716, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) features a miniature cabinet of curiosities containing a collection of shells, all real baby versions of specimen of the East Indian archipelago. A serious attempt at assembling an art collection, Oortman’s dollhouse was set in a cabinet with glass doors, and was likely a fairly accurate version of her own Amsterdam residence.
This talk will look into the Russian-doll effect of an actual residence housing a dollhouse-cabinet, housing a miniature cabinet of curiosities, housing shells, which are, after all, vacant houses of sea creatures. In the context of 17th-century metaphors of shells as standing in for excessive luxuries, as well as Steward and Bachelard’s theories, I suggest that Oortman’s miniature shells were contemplative objects allowing her to philosophize about the place of her home in the world.
