Art Institute of Chicago

A36: California Living Room, 1850-1875

Designed by Narcissa Niblack Thorne

Date

c. 1940

Medium

Miniature room, mixed media

Culture

United States

Department

Applied Arts of Europe

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This miniature living room is based on the Casa Soberanes, an adobe house built in 1842. Part of the Monterey Historic State Park in California, it was opened to the public as a historic home in the early twentieth century. Narcissa Thorne was an avid visitor to such historic houses, and she sought to evoke the same history and nostalgia in her designs. The furniture here recalls the weighty mahogany items families transported across the country as they moved out West in the mid-19th century.

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