# A29: South Carolina Ballroom, 1775–1835

- By: Narcissa Niblack Thorne (American, 1882–1966)
- Date: c. 1940
- Medium: Miniature room, mixed media
- Classification: Miniature room
- Dimensions: External: 69.3 × 119.4 × 108 cm (27 1/4 × 47 × 42 1/2 in.); Internal (main room only): 46.7 × 54 × 76.9 cm (18 3/8 × 21 1/4 × 30 1/4 in.)
- Culture: United States
- Credit line: Gift of Mrs. James Ward Thorne
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/45395)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/web/b0e1866be9e661d1114d4ce1087f7b68.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):

29: South Carolina Ballroom, 1775–1835 The principal sources for this elegant interior were architectural elements from the first-floor hall and second-floor ballroom of the William Gibbes house at 64 South Battery in Charleston. A planter and merchant, Gibbes built the handsome, three-story clapboarded dwelling, described as “of the purest Georgian style,” in 1772. A man of wealth and culture, he had…

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0