A11: Rhode Island Parlor, c. 1820 c. 1940

Narcissa Niblack Thorne made this miniature Rhode Island Parlor sometime around 1820. I love how she’s arranged all the teeny tiny objects just so, with the chairs and the rug and the fireplace. The whole thing is so precise, it’s almost uncanny. I imagine Thorne, squinting, tweezers in hand, carefully placing each minuscule detail. She probably had to use a magnifying glass to get everything just right. It makes me think about the endless hours artists put into their work. I bet she was thinking about how to create a whole world in miniature, about how the light would fall on the tiny furniture, how the colors would all work together. This piece is so special and shows that even on a small scale, an artist can build a reality that’s totally immersive. It’s like she’s inviting us to step into this perfect little time capsule.