Wall Paneling & Wainscoting · Georgian & Colonial Revival
Thorne Miniature Room: Pennsylvania Drawing Room, 1761
A 1:12-scale Thorne Room based on a Philadelphia-area drawing room of 1761, with fully paneled walls, a pedimented overmantel and rich carved ornament.
Design characteristics
Philadelphia was the wealthiest city in colonial America, and its finest rooms show it. This miniature reproduces the elaborate carved woodwork of the period: a chimneypiece with a scrolled pediment, carved friezes, raised panels and a deep cornice wrapping the room. It shows the high end of the Georgian style, where every architectural element is defined by moulding and carving. Use it as a reference when one room in a house deserves the full treatment, such as a library or formal dining room.
Classification
- Category
- Wall Paneling & Wainscoting
- Material
- Painted pine
- Motifs
- Raised panel, Pediment
- Model made
- c. 1940
- Maker or designer
- Designed by Narcissa Niblack Thorne American, 1882–1966
- Recorded medium
- Miniature room, mixed media
- Dimensions
- External: 46.1 × 126.4 × 67.4 cm (18 1/8 × 49 3/4 × 26 1/2 in.); Internal (main room only): 30.5 × 47.7 × 51.8 cm (12 × 18 3/4 × 20 3/8 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.
