Early Chinese Miniatures
中国早期袖珍艺术

In order to be considered miniatures, objects must be small, have full-size counterparts, and not be made as part of a larger object. In early times, Chinese workmen produced miniatures as toys, models, or sample designs for full-sized pieces. During the Song dynasty (960–1279), miniatures were produced for the scholar’s table, some even in the form of Shang (ca. 1600–1100 BCE) and Zhou (ca. 1100–256 BCE) archaic bronze vessels. Miniatures played a role as purely decorative pieces in the Ming (1368–1644) and the Qing (1644–1911) dynasties. Certain types of objects such as houses, vessels, and figurines were also commonly found in tombs as grave goods for the deceased to use in the afterlife. This exhibition featured over 220 miniatures from the Shang dynasty through the Song dynasty, including bronze vessels, figurines, ceramics, mirrors, and jade, as well as several miniature copies of scroll paintings from the Qianlong period (1736–95) in the Qing dynasty.