● On view now — Gallery 11
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · verified July 2026
FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG
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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E-21: French Boudoir of the Louis XV Period, 1740-60
E-26: French Anteroom of the Empire Period, c. 1810
E-23: French Dining Room of the Periods of Louis XV and Loui
E-28: German Sitting Room of the Biedermeier Period, 1815-50
E-25: French Bathroom and Boudoir of the Revolutionary Perio
A30: Georgia Double Parlor, c. 1850
E-19: French Dining Room of the Louis XIV Period, 1660-1700
E-18: French Salon of the Louis XIV Period, 1660-1700