Mia created the MacFarlane Memorial Room in the mid-1970s to display hand-painted Chinese export wallpapers, made in the late 1700s or early 1800s and given to the museum by Mabel MacFarlane in 1967. The room is usually furnished with Federal-style American furniture, given to the museum by the MacFarlane family, and represents a parlor in the home of a wealthy New England family.

For this special installation focusing on the wallpaper, we have removed the furnishings and invite visitors to come inside, sit down, and let their eyes wander over the wallpaper’s many lively scenes of a Chinese New Year festival in a noble family’s garden.
This project is part of Living Rooms, an initiative to present Mia’s historic interiors and decorative arts collections in new ways.