Skip to main content
Journal cover image

Doll's house/dollhouse: Models and agency

Publication ,  Journal Article
Wharton, A
Published in: Journal of American Studies
February 1, 2019

Models - economic, mathematical, toys, manikins - are ubiquitous. This article probes one model, the Stettheimer doll's house, in order to understand all models better. The Stettheimers, three wealthy unmarried sisters living in New York in the early the twentieth century, attracted a remarkable melange of Camp artists and writers, identified by Arthur Danto as "the American Bloomsbury." The Stettheimers were involved in many of New York's happenings, including the Harlem Renaissance and the innovative stage productions of Gertrude Stein. Androgyny, excess, racial mixing and theatricality flourished in the Stettheimer milieu. Carrie Stettheimer's doll's house, now housed in the Museum of the City of New York, captured this life. I consider this model for two related purposes. First, and more narrowly, I document the various effects this eccentric doll's house had on the artistic production of those in its vicinity, most notably on the novels of her sister Ettie and on the paintings both of her sister Florine and Marcel Duchamp. Second, I use the evidence of the doll's house's affect to discuss the agency of models in general.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Journal of American Studies

DOI

EISSN

1469-5154

ISSN

0021-8758

Publication Date

February 1, 2019

Volume

53

Issue

1

Start / End Page

28 / 56

Related Subject Headings

  • Cultural Studies
  • 4705 Literary studies
  • 4303 Historical studies
  • 2103 Historical Studies
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Wharton, A. (2019). Doll's house/dollhouse: Models and agency. Journal of American Studies, 53(1), 28–56. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021875817000895
Wharton, A. “Doll's house/dollhouse: Models and agency.” Journal of American Studies 53, no. 1 (February 1, 2019): 28–56. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021875817000895.
Wharton A. Doll's house/dollhouse: Models and agency. Journal of American Studies. 2019 Feb 1;53(1):28–56.
Wharton, A. “Doll's house/dollhouse: Models and agency.” Journal of American Studies, vol. 53, no. 1, Feb. 2019, pp. 28–56. Scopus, doi:10.1017/S0021875817000895.
Wharton A. Doll's house/dollhouse: Models and agency. Journal of American Studies. 2019 Feb 1;53(1):28–56.
Journal cover image

Published In

Journal of American Studies

DOI

EISSN

1469-5154

ISSN

0021-8758

Publication Date

February 1, 2019

Volume

53

Issue

1

Start / End Page

28 / 56

Related Subject Headings

  • Cultural Studies
  • 4705 Literary studies
  • 4303 Historical studies
  • 2103 Historical Studies