E19: French Dining Room of the Louis XIV Period, 1660–1700

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):

19: French Dining Room of the Louis XIV Period, 1660–1700
For her second Louis XIV room, Mrs. Thorne chose what she described as “more homelike and livable models.” These were meant to represent the tastes of “a class of educated and cultured men of letters and of the arts who preferred to have their homes express dignity and simplicity” rather than the extravagance of the court circles.
One source of inspiration for this room was the Paris residence of Madame de Sévigné, known for her witty letters. Mrs. Thorne had visited the residence, which had been turned into a museum, and when she came to design this interior she noted, “In such a room as this you can imagine Madame [de] Sévigné entertaining her guests at dinner, in the stiff high-back chairs.” Another source was the designs of Jules-Hardouin Mansart, which were characteristic of the latter half of the seventeenth century. The simplicity and relative severity of the oak-paneled interior provide a restrained setting for the gilding and colorful inlays of the furniture, the velvet-brocade upholstery, and the rich hangings.
The high-back chairs, inlaid commode, mirror, and pedestals were inspired by examples in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. The side table and table were modeled after designs by Jean Le Pautre (see E-18: French Salon of the Louis XIV Period, 1660–1700). The pile effect of Savonnerie carpeting was achieved by substituting wool for silk in the embroidering of the rug. Its design repeats in part the central element of the ceiling. The tapestry over the side table was originally part of an antique purse. The gold service displayed on the side table came from one of Mrs. Thorne’s secret sources, a shop specializing in miniatures in Paris.
The painting over the side table is a reproduction of a portrait of Cardinal Richelieu by Philippe de Champaigne in the Musée du Louvre, Paris.
This room measures 17 x 26 1/2 x 21 5/8 inches