A SET OF FOUR PERSPEX CASED DIORAMA, each modelled period interiors of 18th and 19th century rooms, signed Broun-Morison, each 22 x 26 x 20 cm. The first dollhouses appeared in Northern Europe in the 17th century and, unlike the modern toys which so delight children today, they were objects to be taken seriously. Delicately carved furniture sat against backdrops of silk wallpaper which, in turn, were spotted by impeccably executed oil paintings. Dining rooms were equipped with full china dinner services whilst genuine silver candlesticks would hold aloft tiny candles and the house’s occupants would sit dressed in the finest fashions of the day. These miniature rooms were curated by the matron of the house and were a way in which to display the opulence and grandeur of her own household. Inadvertently, the dollhouse morphed into an historical record of interior design and gave rise to the production of period dioramas, such as the ones shown here.As with the original dollhouses, the purpose of the diorama is display. However, in contrast to the dollhouse, the diorama does not offer itself up to change and instead is a perfect box of preservation. The current lot spans three hundred years of design, encompassing the Queen Anne, Georgian, Regency and Victorian eras respectively, with each one quintessentially decorated to the tastes of their time.