Built-ins & Bookcases · Georgian & Colonial Revival
Thorne Miniature Room: English Library, Queen Anne and George I Periods, 1702–50
A 1:12-scale Thorne Room of an early 18th-century English library, with walnut-toned paneling, built-in glazed bookcases and a pedimented chimneypiece.
Design characteristics
Early Georgian libraries were designed as complete architectural rooms, with bookcases built into the paneling rather than standing against it. This miniature shows glazed bookcases set between pilasters, a pedimented chimneypiece and a continuous cornice tying them together. It is a direct model for a modern built-in library wall: cases set into a paneled frame, a strong cornice, and the fireplace or a desk as the center of symmetry.
Classification
- Category
- Built-ins & Bookcases
- Material
- Oak
- Model made
- c. 1937
- Maker or designer
- Designed by Narcissa Niblack Thorne American, 1882–1966
- Recorded medium
- Miniature room, mixed media
- Dimensions
- External: 55.9 × 132.4 × 63.2 cm (22 × 52 1/8 × 24 7/8 in.); Internal (main room only): 33.7 × 63.5 × 58.5 cm (13 1/4 × 25 × 23 in.)
- Evidence
- Museum miniature room (scale model)
- Source
- Art Institute of Chicago
Architectural context
Symmetry, classical proportions and refined raised-panel woodwork. Britain and colonial America · original c. 1714–1830; revival c. 1876–1955.
