A23: Virginia Drawing Room, 1754
c. 1940
Medium
Miniature room, mixed media
Dimensions
Interior, Scale 1 inch = 1 foot: 30.5 × 49.9 × 55.9 cm (12 × 19 5/8 × 22 in.)
Classification
miniature
Department
Applied Arts of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
45377
Art Historical Context
Narcissa Niblack Thorne’s *Virginia Drawing Room, 1754* offers a meticulously crafted glimpse into colonial American interiors. Created around 1940 at a precise one-inch-to-one-foot scale, this miniature room captures the elegance of mid-eighteenth-century Virginia through its paneled walls, carved woodwork, and period furnishings. Thorne, known for her series of sixty-eight historic rooms now housed at the Art Institute of Chicago, used mixed media—including tiny textiles, metals, and painted surfaces—to replicate authentic details with remarkable accuracy. The depicted drawing room reflects...
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...