One-Off Felt Toy House by Claudy Jongstra, 1990s

Beautiful toy house made of cardboard clad with felt by Claudy Jongstra. One-off piece designed and made specially for an interior design fair in The Netherlands in the 1990s. Marked with label. Claudy Jongstra is known worldwide for her monumental artworks and architectural installations, whose organic surfaces and nuanced tones reflect Jongstra’s masterful innovations in the ancient technique of making wool felt. Jongstra’s oeuvre, often installed in large public spaces, is included in many international museums as well as private and corporate collections. In 2001, Jongstra established her studio in Friesland, a rural northern province of The Netherlands, where she began a sweeping ecological experiment carried out in the local landscape. Maintaining a flock of rare, indigenous Drenthe Heath sheep (the oldest breed in Northern Europe) and cultivating a specialized historic botanical dye collection garden, Jongstra creates a completely sustainable chain culminating in her artworks. As Jongstra’s artistic practice expands, so too does the impact on her region. Collaborating with local farms, schools, universities and social initiatives, and drawing on a deep respect for the interwoven narratives of people, land, and tacit knowledge, Jongstra actively reimagines and revitalizes the local landscape from monocultural production toward a more diverse, inclusive, and ecologically-just model.