E14: English Drawing Room of the Victorian Period, 1840–70

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):

14: English Drawing Room of the Victorian Period, 1840–70
During the 1930s, the negative reaction to Victorian taste was so strong that, according to Mrs. Thorne, it was difficult “to obtain accurate information regarding Victorian rooms, for there had been practically nothing written on the subject. Even in England my search was unrewarded.” Admitting to a soft spot for the period, she lavished considerable care on this interior, especially on details.
By this time, the Industrial Revolution had made its mark on the design and manufacture of every kind of article for household use. Technological innovations led to quicker and cheaper modes of making furniture, and a growing middle class provided an expanding market for goods that had once been the exclusive preserve of the aristocracy. During the Victorian period, the harmonious interiors of the Georgian era gave way to more eclectic settings incorporating a wide range of historical revival styles. This room includes a ceiling with several Renaissance motifs, a mantel and windows inspired by Baroque and Rococo sources, and walls decorated with white Chippendale scrollwork in a Gothic mode.
The deep red carpet and satin curtains, elaborately festooned and trimmed with gold silk fringe; the opulent enrichments of black lacquer and gilding on the console tables along the left wall; and the rosewood, walnut, and dark mahogany furniture combine to produce an atmosphere of warmth and comfort, which is what Mrs. Thorne intended. Some of the furniture dates from an earlier period. The étagère against the right wall was copied from a piece dating from about 1795 shown in Percy Macquoid’s Dictionary of English Furniture (1924–27). Mrs. Thorne modified its original design by replacing drawers with shelves.
The pedestal tables reflect types dating from about 1808. The pedestal table in front of the center window carries an enamel of Victoria as dowager empress and an early photograph of Victoria and her husband, Albert. Married to Victoria in 1840, Albert was named prince consort in 1857; he died four years later. The portrait to the left of the window showing Victoria in her coronation robes is a copy of one in the National Portrait Gallery, London, painted by Sir George Hayter. The portrait to the right of the window is a copy of Franz-Xavier Winterhalter’s painting of the prince consort, also in the National Portrait Gallery. The two small framed objects flanking the fireplace are known as Baxter prints, named after the man who developed a mode of printing with oil colors. That on the left depicts Osborne House, Victoria’s country home on the Isle of Wight designed by Prince Albert with the help of architect Thomas Cubitt; that on the right is of Balmoral Castle in Scotland, completed to Albert’s designs in 1856.
This room measures 17 1/2 x 28 1/4 x 21 3/4 inches.