# A9: Massachusetts Parlor, 1818

- By: Narcissa Niblack Thorne (American, 1882–1966)
- Date: c. 1940
- Medium: Miniature room, mixed media
- Classification: Miniature room
- Dimensions: External: 48.3 × 114.3 × 72.4 cm (19 × 45 × 28 1/2 in.); Internal (main room only): 28.3 × 63.2 × 44.5 cm (11 1/8 × 24 7/8 × 17 1/2 in.)
- Culture: United States
- Credit line: Gift of Mrs. James Ward Thorne
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/45339)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/web/4cac72b7c9d0aafa4d624ef2cf9c73a9.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):

9: Massachusetts Parlor, 1818 That the influence of Robert Adam (see E–10: English Dining Room of the Georgian Period, 1770–90) on American architecture and interior decoration continued well into the nineteenth century is evident in this model, based on a parlor in what was originally a private residence located in Haverhill. Known at one time as Brown’s Tavern and at another as Eagle House, it was…

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0