American artist Narcissa Niblack Thorne is known for her incredibly detailed miniature interiors. She furnished tiny rooms, reproducing a variety of styles popular in Europe, Asia, North America in the 13th-20th centuries. Narcissa Thorn held her first exhibition in 1932, she organized some events in order to raise charitable funds. Her work was so realistic and of high quality that the artist was commissioned to make a miniature library from Windsor Castle. Today this exhibit is in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Having previously studied ancient architecture, design and arts and crafts, in 1932-1940. the artist, together with her team, designed about a hundred small interiors. All of them are made in 1:12 scale and contain unique works of art. For the manufacture of some rooms, original materials used in the construction of full-sized rooms were selected. This also applies to interior items: silver bowls, crystal chandeliers, copies of paintings and sculptures have real prototypes.
Although the work process is incredibly time-consuming, the financially secure Narcissa Thorne did not demand payment for her work. Most of the compositions, namely 68 rooms, can be seen at the Art Institute of Chicago. Several pieces are on display at the Children's Museum in Indianapolis and the Museum of Miniatures in Los Angeles.
Interest in modeling woke up in Narcissa Thorn when she received antique dollhouses brought from all over the world as a gift from her uncle. This is how a childhood hobby grew into the art of creating scale models of vintage interiors.
