# A13: New England Bedroom, 1750–1850

- By: Narcissa Niblack Thorne (American, 1882–1966)
- Date: c. 1940
- Medium: Miniature room, mixed media
- Classification: Miniature room
- Dimensions: External: 42.6 × 88.3 × 54.7 cm (16 3/4 × 34 3/4 × 21 1/2 in.); Internal (main room only): 21 × 54.3 × 52.1 cm (8 1/4 × 21 3/8 × 20 1/2 in.)
- Culture: United States
- Credit line: Gift of Mrs. James Ward Thorne
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/45350)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/web/85b5f17570af5c2875413bb93ae9421c.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):

13: New England Bedroom, 1750–1850 Like the preceding interior, this model represents a type rather than a specific room—a New England bedroom less grand than one that might have been found in the residence of a rich merchant but furnished more substantially than one in a fisherman’s cottage. The lack of specificity and the long time span suggested in the dates gave Mrs. Thorne considerable latitude in…

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0