Author Description

This is an intriguing book exploring the timeless appeal of miniature objects and worlds, and the fascinating implications that lie behind their creation.There is a true fascination with all things miniature and with the skills involved in creating a miniature masterpiece. They have an intrinsic aesthetic quality: they are objects of allure, or of awe. Who could fail to be beguiled by an exquisite Elizabethan miniature painting, an intricately carved Japanese netsuke, the words of the "Lord's Prayer" written on a minute jewelled clasp, or an eighteenth-century Italian micro-mosaic?The author not only celebrates the art of the miniature object, but looks beyond it at the many aspects of 'small worlds'. He explores the concentrated messages that can be conveyed in the miniature form and how this is exploited in different cultural contexts for a variety of purposes. He also assesses the importance of relative scale and questions how 'miniature' can be defined.