Category Archives: Elizabethan

Posted on 28 August, 2016

elizabethan-town-house

Elizabethan Townhouse found on infil.com

Elizabethan Era

Towards the end of Henry VIII’s reign very little building occurred in England. The debts run up by the spendthrift Henry meant that the country verged on bankruptcy. The wool trade, which had carried the economic life of the country in the late medieval period, was no longer as prosperous as it had been. There was less disposable wealth for architectural projects. Under Elizabeth, the fifth and last Tudor monarch, the county’s economy began to revive. The new queen encouraged a return to farming, and the resulting recovery put a reasonable amount of wealth into the hands of a large number of people. This created the Elizabethan passion for tearing down old houses and building anew. Dubbed the “Great Rebuilding, ” homeowners of all classes yearned for improvements.

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Posted by Susan Downing

Categories: Elizabethan


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Posted on 17 November, 2015

thorne-rooms-tennessee-entrance-hall

Thorne Rooms Tennessee Entrance Hall, 1835, c. 1940, on permanent exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago

The Thorne Rooms

Narcissa Niblack Thorne, the wife of James Ward Thorne, son of one of the founders of Montgomery Ward, commissioned this group of exquisite room boxes. Her interest in miniatures began early and was encouraged by trinkets sent to her by her uncle, a Rear Admiral in the US Navy. This passion continued into her adult life.

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Posted by Susan Downing


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