A15: New York Parlor, 1850–70

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):

15: New York City Parlor, 1850–70
Mrs. Thorne modeled this room after an interior in a reconstructed New York townhouse. The original residence was the brownstone row house at 28 East 20th Street in which Theodore Roosevelt, who became the twenty-sixth president of the United States, spent the first fourteen years of his life. Razed in 1916, the house was reconstructed on its initial site in 1920 through the efforts of architect Theodate Pope Riddle, who based her work on family records, photographs, and reminiscences, as well as on measurements from an identical house. Established as a museum, the house was acquired by the National Park Service in 1963.
As was often the case, Mrs. Thorne was less concerned with creating a replica than with conveying the general appearance and tone of the interiors that inspired her models. In this instance, the architectural features that reflect the townhouse include the cornice and mantel and such accessories as the wallpaper, curtains, and carpeting. The furniture is, for the most part, in the Rococo Revival style, which originated in France in the 1830s in reaction to the Neoclassicism of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods and which spread subsequently throughout the Continent, as well as to England and North America. Rococo Revival furniture was admired for its elaborateness and grace and remained in vogue in the United States from the 1840s until the 1870s, impinging on and eventually eclipsing the popularity of the classic designs of Duncan Phyfe (see A–14: Pennsylvania Drawing Room, 1834–36).
Among the best-known exponents of the Rococo Revival in America was John Henry Belter, a German-born cabinetmaker who moved to New York in 1844 and opened a shop on Broadway. Highly successful, Belter eventually established a factory on 76th Street near Third Avenue, where he produced elaborately carved rosewood furniture of the type used in this parlor. Characteristic of Belter’s style are the sofa and armchairs, with their full upholstery, curving lines, and high, intricately pierced carved crests. To strengthen rosewood so that it would not be damaged during the carving stage, Belter invented a laminating process whereby he joined together layers of wood between slices of rosewood veneer. The resulting panels could be formed into different shapes with the use of steam heat and then carved. This method enabled him to make the one-piece molded backs that distinguish his parlor furniture. Flanking the doorway leading to the entrance hall are marble-topped consoles; these, along with the cabinet, were also inspired by Belter originals.
The cloisonné vases on the consoles are antiques. The red leather book on the marble-top table to the left of the fireplace contains Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
This room measures 12 3/8 x 17 1/2 x 21 inches