A20: Virginia Dining Room, 1758
c. 1940
Medium
Miniature room, mixed media
Dimensions
Interior, Scale 1 inch = 1 foot: 33.7 × 50.2 × 53.7 cm (13 1/4 × 19 3/4 × 21 1/8 in.)
Classification
miniature
Department
Applied Arts of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
45369
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
The wallpaper is perhaps the most elaborate element of this miniature room. In her study of interior decoration sources from the 18th century, Narcissa Thorne learned of the taste among Americans and Europeans for imported Chinese wallpaper. The walls in this space are covered with a hand-painted pattern of birds, trees, and flowers produced in the same manner as the full-scale wallpapers from China 150 years earlier.
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...