A unique collection of dolls’ houses brings celebrity magic to Chiswick saleroom

A Victorian Street diorama estimated to fetch £400 to £600

A personal collection that reflects Barbara Speake’s lifetime working in the performing arts

The dolls’ houses and miniatures collection of stage school founder Barbara Speake goes under the hammer at Chiswick Auction House on Thursday 3 September.

Lovers of toys and miniatures as well as enthusiasts of architecture and interiors and those interested in the history of London theatre will all be clamouring to own one of the 119 lots.

Surprisingly these well put together period houses and miniature scenes – estimated to fetch anywhere from £80 for a medieval armourer’s shed to £1,000 for a Victorian Gothic Revival-style school for young ladies – were never publicly displayed during Barbara Speake’s lifetime despite the collector’s obvious passion and skill at set design.

For many years the houses were kept at Grey Timbers in Ealing, the home of ‘Miss Speake’ – as she was known by everyone – from 1972 to her passing two years ago, at the age of 95.

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A formidable presence

“She only showed the houses to her friends and family,” said her nephew David Speake, who The Chiswick Calendar had the pleasure of meeting at a preview of the auction lots.

“My aunt created an outbuilding in the back garden of her home to display her ever-growing collection and she really did enjoy talking about them.”

When I said I would have liked to meet her, David laughed and said “she was a formidable presence”, recounting an anecdote that made it clear that Miss Speake always got her own way.

From all accounts the late Barbara Speake MBE (1928-2024), who was famous for founding a stage school in East Acton that nurtured the talent of Phil Collins, Naomi Campbell and countless others, was not a conventional person or collector.

A stylish Art Deco house will attract keen interest from buyers at £400 to £600

Commissioned to order

Barbara rarely acquired historic dolls houses – with the exception of Lot 31, the 19th century Woodlands Villas (estimated £800- £1,600) – and instead commissioned custom houses and complete street scenes to her own specification. These were purchased from 20th-century makers such as Patsy Models or Gable End Designs as well as individual designers of her acquaintance.

Once the structure had been created to her exacting standards, Barbara would enjoy dressing it, just as a production designer would a theatre set, in a meticulous and layered way. Anyone with a little knowledge of antiques and vintage design will enjoy noticing miniature furnishings in the style of famous designers: Eames, Arne Jacobsen and Mies van der Rohe to name a few.

I loved the Lalique sculpture, the Tamara de Lempicka style picture and the Shelley Vogue-style coffee set in the Art Deco house (£400 to 600) whilst in an impressive Stuart house (£500 to £800) I was pleased to see realistic touches such as a salt-glazed Bellarmine jug, pewter plates and tankards.

The 1930s home, £200 to £300, where Barbara Speake grew up shows her as a child

Not meant to be played with

Not a single house was ever meant to be played with – and who would dare! It was known that when the five-year-old Barbara was given a dolls house as a toy, she rejected it because it lacked verisimilitude to an actual interior and props were “out of scale”.

The stage school founder didn’t begin her diorama hobby in earnest until, at the age of 48, she visited a dolls’ house shop in Eton. Instead of purchasing already-made models, she began creating her own dolls’ houses, over which she had complete control of scene setting and populating with figures, a pastime that would continue for the next four decades.

Many of the models recreate recognisable historical periods – Tudor, Victorian, Art Deco and Modernist – whilst others capture ordinary places such as a bakery, pub, school or hospital. There are homages to famous locations such as Strawberry Hill House in Twickenham and Hampton Court Palace.

There are also several highly personal scenes that offer a snapshot in the Speake family’s life. An interwar detached house (Lot 26), £200-£300, is based on Barbara’s childhood home on Old Oak Road in Acton, complete with figures representing members of her family.

Upon closure of the Speake’s haberdashery business, the brothers sold the shop fittings to the BBC’s TV series ‘Are You Being Served’; the church is also a nod to the family’s heritage

Personal references

Her family’s drapers store – at Savoy Circus on the Westway – is a charming reenactment from the past, whilst several family members including Blanche Sturgeon and Mary Gittins are referenced in memorial marbles set around the front, back and sides of the church’s walls (Lot 27) and in the Sturgeon Fish and Chip Shop signage (Lot 14).

There is even a holiday home – named Villa Santa Barbara – that evokes the summer fun the Speakes had at a location in Italy complete with swimming pool.

Visitors to the preview at Grey Timbers also enjoyed the homages to Barbara’s life in the theatre such as dressing rooms or the stage door of a West End show. The diorama of The Punch Bowl Tavern by Steve Hilbert, showing a scene from the musical Oliver! for which the Speake Stage School supplied almost all of the child actors including the Artful Dodger (a young Phil Collins) is estimated to fetch £500 to £700.

This model depicts Phil Collins’ music studio. He joined Genesis as a drummer after attending the Speake stage school

Showbiz connections

Also of interest to showbiz buffs is the model (Lot 90) of Phil Collins recording studio made especially for Barbara – as the grown-up musician called her – because of her close connection to the Collins family, which is estimated £150-£250.

The famous Genesis drummer was helped to stardom by his mother June Collins, who worked as a talent agent for the Speake Stage School and was a close lifelong friend of Barbara Speake. She even moved in to Grey Timbers with Barbara upon the death of Phil’s father and remained there until her own death.

A four-storey Victorian townhouse, £300 to £500, has a top-lifting attic or fifth layer

Attention to detail

As you peer into each room it is intriguing to see Barbara’s imagination at work and her attention to detail. To evoke a particular period, place or story she would put hundreds of hours into sourcing miniature furniture and objects, often found at specialist fairs.

A Victorian townhouse (Lot 2) worth £300 to £500 features gorgeous tiles, stained glass and wallpapers and period appropriate ceramics including a pair of King Charles mantel dogs.

This single-owner sale reveals as much about its creator as the objects themselves. Barbara Speake spent a lifetime working in the performing arts, earning an MBE in 2007 for her services to drama, and her love of storytelling was uniquely expressed in this very personal collection.

To view the catalogue and register to bid online, click here, or attend the sale at 11am on 3 September at Chiswick Auction House, 1 Roslin Square, W3 8DH.