The Origin of Miniature Arts

袖珍作品是很古老的藝術
老早老早從埃及的金字塔就出現過迷你的陪葬品，中國的故宮裡也不少精緻得令人嘆為觀止的袖珍藝術品，日本人三月節句，俗稱雛祭，展示的是不折不扣的袖珍世 界。從此看來，袖珍藝術其實不是新的東西，是幾千年以前便已存在的，只是古時候它是專屬於宮廷或是特殊階級的把玩，而且也還沒有形成娃娃屋 Dollhouse的形態罷了。


德國到英國，貴族到平民
據了解，文獻上第一個娃娃屋Dollhouse是出現於德國，時代是十六世紀。當然，我們可以猜得出，是在德國的宮廷之間。當時娃娃屋 (Puppenhaus)的造型以廚房及其擺設居多，據考究是用來教導小女孩幫忙家務，長大持家之用的。顯然，這些娃娃屋也用來做貴族之間，孩子們的生日 禮物之用。然而這時候娃娃屋內外的縮小比例並不一致。
跟著宮廷間的通婚，Puppenhaus來到了荷蘭，在荷蘭它叫做Poppenhuis。之後它渡海到了英國，英國人叫它Dolls’ House，到此為止它還沒有跑出貴族門外。不過，進入十九世紀它終於流傳到城牆之外來了。從此Dolls’ House大放異彩，蔚然形成一股新興藝術。先前不甚考究固定比例的宮廷Dolls’ house在民間追求完美的要求之下被統一起來，作品的範圍更是無所不包，從描寫一般家庭起居至商店工廠，到帶有童話色彩的通通出現。製作技術突飛猛進， 作品之逼真精緻之程度令人大開眼界，其藝術層次之高與宮廷時代不可同日而語了。

以上知料来至：Miniatures Museum of Taiwan

History

Miniature homes, furnished with domestic articles and resident inhabitants (both people and animals), have been made for thousands of years. The earliest known examples were found in the Egyptian Tombs of the Old Kingdom, created nearly five thousand years ago. These wooden models of servants, furnishings, boats, livestock and pets placed in the Pyramids almost certainly were made for religious purposes. The earliest known European dollhouses are from the Sixteenth Century. These baby or cabinet houses showed idealized interiors complete with extremely detailed furnishings and accessories (mostly hand made).

The early European dollhouses were each unique, constructed on a custom basis by individual craftsmen. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, factories began mass producing toys, including dollhouses and miniatures suitable for furnishing them. German companies noted for their dollhouses included Christian Hacker, Moritz Gottschalk, Elastolin, and Moritz Reichel. The list of important English companies includes Siber & Fleming, Evans & Cartwright, and Lines Brothers (which became Tri-ang). By the end of the nineteenth century American dollhouses were being made in the United States by The Bliss Manufacturing Company.

Germany was the producer of the most prized dollhouses and doll house miniatures up until The Great War. Notable German miniature companies included Marklin, Rock and Garner and others. Their products were not only avidly collected in Central Europe, but regularly exported to Britain and North America. Germany's involvement in WWI seriously impeded both production and export. New manufacturers in other countries arose.

The TynieToy Company of Providence, Rhode Island, made authentic replicas of American antique houses and furniture in a uniform scale beginning in about 1917.[3] Other American companies of the early twentieth century were Roger Williams Toys, Tootsietoy, Schoenhut, and the Wisconsin Toy Co. Dollhouse dolls and miniatures were also produced in Japan, mostly by copying original German designs.

After World War II, dollshouses became mass produced in factories on a much larger scale with less detailed craftsmanship than ever before. By the 1950s, the typical dollhouse sold commercially was made of painted sheet metal filled with plastic furniture. Such houses cost little enough that the great majority of girls from the developed western countries that were not struggling with rebuilding after World War II could own one.javascript:void(0)

Above information are take from wikipedia