The Tynietoy Company was founded by Marion I. Perkins (1872-1947) and Amey Vernon (1876-1940) in Providence, Rhode Island. Marion Perkins was born in Providence and attended Miss Abbott’s School, Mary C. Wheeler School and Rhode Island School of Design. After graduating, she worked as an interior decorator and began making miniature furniture in 1917. Perkins engaged her close friend Amey Vernon as a partner in the business and they worked out of a small studio in the Handicraft Club of which they were both members. The furniture was notable for its historically accurate designs including examples of Hepplewhite, Chippendale, Sheraton and Queen Anne styles. In 1920, the business, then called The Toy Furniture Shop, moved to 227 Benefit Street. In 1923, the artist Sydney Burleigh joined the firm and standardized the scale of the pieces and assisted in designs for furniture and dollhouses. They moved again in 1928 to 31 Market Street. Amey Vernon retired in 1933, Marion Perkins retired in 1941 and the company closed in 1953 after several management changes. George Henri LeClerc (1894-1972) was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts and attended Rhode Island School of Design in 1921. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1915 and served until 1919. He was employed as a draftsmen and production manager by the Tynietoy Company from 1920- 1938 after which he continued designing and making miniature furniture in New Bedford. In the 1940s, he exhibited a group of twenty miniature rooms at the Jordan Marsh department store in Boston, Massachusetts. Tynietoy pieces were marked with paper labels until 1925 at which point they began using a rubber stamp. In 1930, pieces were marked with a branding iron. Tynietoy did not trademark their designs until 1938. LeClerc continued using many of the pre-1938 Tynietoy designs in his private work after he left the company. Because of these factors, it can be difficult to definitively attribute some of the items in the collection to either Tynietoy or LeClerc.
There are no restrictions on access. Appointments are encouraged.
Although Providence Public Library has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Collection of Tynietoy and LeClerc dollhouse furniture , 002-05-01, Providence Public Library.
The collection includes 32 pieces of dollhouse furniture attributed to either Tynietoy Company or George LeClerc. Also included is one photograph album of LeClerc dollhouse room displays and a newspaper clipping. Attribution of the creator was assigned using additional research materials including furniture design sketches and sales catalogs available in the Tynietoy Collection at RISD Archives.
The collection is organized into a three series: materials and photograph album attributed to George LeClerc, materials attributed to Tynietoy and unattributed items.
Unknown.
Tynietoy Collection at RISD Archives.
George H. LeClerc miniature furniture design records,1930s, MC 56. University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.
20 photographs of dollhouse room displays created by George LeClerc, including newspaper clipping.
Hepplewhite style dining chair with upholstered red fabric seats. Stained mahogany.
Hepplewhite style dining chair with upholstered gold fabric seats. Stained mahogany.
Chippendale style dining chair with upholstered, striped, purple seat cushion. 1:6 Play scale. 5.75” height.
Footstool in maple with purple fabric top. Scroll decoration on legs and brace.
Books for bookshelves. Total of 14. One set broken.
Mahogany side table with six straight carved legs. One leg broken off.
Brick fireplace & chimney with wood mantle. Includes hanging fireplace tongs.
Mahogany sideboard in Hepplewhite style with tapered legs. Includes 2 large drawers, 1 small drawer with felt liner, 2 hinged cabinet doors. Brass knobs.
Mahogany round table with tapered legs.
Mahogany half round table with three tapered legs. Scratched top
Black chair with molded seat. V braced back.
Red chair with molded seat. Windsor sack back armchair.
Red chair with minimally molded seat (almost flat). Fan back style chair.
Rush seat ladder back chair in maple.
Rush seat rocking ladder back rocking chair in maple.
Mahogany slant top desk with table open. Includes one small drawer and three large drawers. Includes papers in drawer, ink blotter and ink pot.
Dark stain wood trestle table with decorative spindles. Matches bench seat. Includes Tynietoy stamp under table top.
Dark stain wood bench style seat with decorative spindles along the back. Fabric covering on seat. Includes velvet pillow. Matches trestle table.
Mahogany trestle table. Legs have scrolled detail ad includes three braces.
Maple four-poster canopy bed with rounded headboard. Includes mattress, floral bedcover, pillow & canopy
Maple 4 drawer bureau. Includes two small drawers and two large drawers. Simple scroll detail on side at legs. Brass knobs.
Maple washstand with tapered legs.
Mahogany trestle table with highly decorative brace and legs.
Mahogany blanket chest. Hinged top with blankets and lace stored inside. Drawer doesn't open.
Two oriental styled throw rugs with tassels.