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A34: New Mexico Dining Room, c. 1940

Miniature dining room, with white walls, wood-beamed ceilings, fireplace in the right corner, and a central table set with food.

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  • Miniature dining room, with white walls, wood-beamed ceilings, fireplace in the right corner, and a central table set with food.

Date:

c. 1940

Artist:

Designed by Narcissa Niblack Thorne
American, 1882-1966

About this artwork

In this miniature dining room, Narcissa Thorne simulates the white-washed and mud-plastered adobe brick often used for homes in New Mexico. Lighting from the back of the room suggests the afternoon sun illuminating the stark white walls and casting moody shadows where it meets the darker wood accents. The open windows imply that Thorne imagined a rare desert breeze wafting through the kitchen; the darkened stairwell through the doorway provides another potential respite from the heat.

Status

On View, Gallery 11

Department

Applied Arts of Europe

Artist

Narcissa Niblack Thorne (Designer)

Title

A34: New Mexico Dining Room, c. 1940

Place

United States (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1937–1940

Medium

Miniature room, mixed media

Dimensions

Interior, Scale 1 inch = 1 foot: 30.5 × 43.2 × 42.6 cm (12 × 17 × 16 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. James Ward Thorne

Reference Number

1942.514

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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