# A8: Massachusetts Bedroom, c. 1801

- By: Narcissa Niblack Thorne (American, 1882–1966)
- Date: c. 1940
- Medium: Miniature room, mixed media
- Classification: Miniature room
- Dimensions: External: 49.6 × 102.3 × 91.5 cm (19 1/2 × 40 1/4 × 36 in.); Internal (main room only): 28.6 × 57.2 × 58.8 cm (11 1/4 × 22 1/2 × 23 1/8 in.)
- Culture: United States
- Credit line: Gift of Mrs. James Ward Thorne
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/45336)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/web/c2cd58011a3ee20ba7378c57cd5816ff.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

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 interpretation. Each atmospheric interior feels like a stage set awaiting its occupants—two parts fantasy, one part history, and entirely absorbing.

Entry from Fannia Weingartner, Miniature Rooms: The Thorne Rooms at the Art Institute of Chicago, 2nd ed. (The Art Institute of Chicago, 2004):

8: Massachusetts Bedroom, c. 1801 This elegant bedroom of the Federal period was inspired by one of the interiors in Oak Hill, a mansion on the outskirts of Salem in what is now known as Peabody. Its architect was Samuel McIntire, son of a Salem cabinetmaker and woodcarver and himself an accomplished craftsman. McIntire’s chief patron was a wealthy merchant, Elias Hasket Derby, for whose daughter…

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0