E-7: English Drawing Room of the Early Georgian Period, 1730s
c. 1937
Medium
Miniature room, mixed media
Dimensions
Scale 1 inch = 1 foot: 50 × 78.2 × 60.7 cm (19 11/16 × 30 13/16 × 23 7/8 in.); Interior, Scale 1 inch = 1 foot: 50.8 × 79.4 × 61.6 cm (20 × 31 1/4 × 24 1/4 in.)
Classification
thorne rooms
Department
Applied Arts of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
43704
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Narcissa Niblack Thorne, creator of the Thorne Rooms, combined a deep knowledge of design history with a vivid imaginative sensibility. In the 1930s, she assembled a team of skilled artisans in Chicago to construct a series of intricately detailed interiors at the scale of one inch to one foot (1:12). Conceived as a visual history of interior design, the rooms are at once scholarly and inventive. Meticulously researched and carefully composed, they balance historical accuracy with artistic inte...
About the Artist
Narcissa Niblack Thorne · 1882–1966
Narcissa Niblack Thorne (1882–1966) was born on May 2 in Vincennes, Indiana, the eldest child of William Niblack and Frances Caldwell Niblack. Her family relocated to Chicago during her childhood, where she received a patchwork education: homeschooled by a governess, public schooling from age eleven, private classes, and finishing at the elite Kenwood Institute in Hyde Park. Extensive family trave...