The Knoxville Museum of Art: The Thorne Collection

These nine miniature rooms a small sample of the ninety created by Mrs. James Ward Thorne (nee Narcissa Niblack).  Quick note on James Ward Stone.  He was an heir to the Montgomery Ward fortune.

An avid collector of miniatures, Mrs. Thorne traveled extensively in Europe and collected many antique miniatures and accessories.  Eventually she worked with artists and craftsmen to bring her concepts to life.

The rooms are to scale, one inch to one foot.  Mrs. Thorne stained the woods used, papered the walls and made textiles for the rooms.  Many of the miniature rooms include items collected by Mrs. Thorne.

Acquired by IBM, these miniature rooms were given to Knoxville's Dulin Gallery of Art, the predecessor of the Knoxville Museum of Art in 1962.

English Dining Room
Late 18th Century

American Hearth

1800s

Victorian Parlor
Circa 1850

Spanish Bedroom

16th Century

Majorcan Kitchen

These two photos

represent a
Spanish Foyer
17th Century

American Summer Kitchen

1885

Federal Dining Room
Circa 1810

New England Bedroom

1770

Mrs. Thorne's miniature rooms were displayed at Chicago's Century of Progress Exposition at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair.  In 1939, they were displayed at San Francisco's Golden Gate Exposition and at the New York World's Fair in 1940.