A20: Virginia Dining Room, 1758 c. 1940

Narcissa Niblack Thorne made this miniature Virginia Dining Room around 1940 with various materials to a scale of 1 inch to 1 foot. The whole thing is so neat and precise, you just know that making this would have been an exercise in problem-solving. The walls are decorated with these beautiful pale blue patterned wallpapers and the rich dark wood of the floor is really striking. Look closely at the way the walls have been constructed and how the light catches on the edges of the panels; the effect is both realistic and dreamlike. It reminds me of some of Joseph Cornell’s boxes. Thorne has thought really carefully about how all the elements of the room work together. The piece is quite different from her earlier works, which were much more detailed. The way she has simplified the design here is really effective. It has a slightly surreal quality, like a stage set waiting for the actors to arrive.