A6: New Hampshire Dining Room, 1760 c. 1940

This is Narcissa Niblack Thorne's miniature recreation, "New Hampshire Dining Room, 1760," part of the Thorne Miniature Rooms completed around 1940. Thorne, born into privilege in 1882, crafted these rooms during the interwar period, a time of dramatic social change. These miniatures are more than mere dollhouses; they reflect Thorne's complex relationship with history, class, and gender. The dining room, with its elegant furnishings and meticulously designed wallpaper, evokes a sense of colonial gentility, but it also subtly points to the social dynamics of the time. Consider, for example, who is absent from the scene. Where are the servants who would have maintained such a space? By shrinking these rooms, Thorne invites us to consider the scale of human experience within the grand narratives of history. These miniatures ultimately capture a longing for a past marked by both beauty and profound social inequality. They are a reminder that history is not just about grand events but also about the intimate spaces where power and identity are negotiated.