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e-Antique.eu Glossary: Miniature |
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Miniature
The term on its own usually refers to miniature paintings up to a few inches across. Miniature portraits were developed from illuminated manuscript work and were popular from the 16thC onwards. They are usually in watercolour or gouache; early examples are on vellum and from the 18thC on ivory. Oil miniatures are rare, generally dating from the 16th and 17th centuries and of Dutch or Flemish origin. Enamel on metal miniatures, popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, were often found on objects of vertu. See plumbago. Miniature furniture was produced in the 18thC both as proof of a cabinet-maker’s skill (they were sometimes required as final proof of an apprentice’s readiness for entry into the trade, and were known as apprentice pieces) or as advertisements, to be placed in a shop front to attract attention. Miniature ceramics popular in the late 18th and 19th centuries, especially in Britain, include domestic tea and coffee services, made for some dolls’ houses. Miniature books under 3×2 in (75 x 50 mm) were produced from c. 1773, including calendars, Bibles, church notes and tide tables. |
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