Mini-replica of Taj Mahal of precious metals and diamonds made by Indian jeweler Syed Hanif

Mini-replica of Taj Mahal of precious metals and diamonds. Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World and symbol of abounding love has become the source of inspiration for jeweler Syed Hanif to create $18.3 million, 3.5 ft high mini-replica of Taj Mahal, featuring 420kgs of precious metals and 8 diamonds. Built by a grieving emperor in memory of his wife, Taj Mahal is famously regarded as the ultimate declaration of love. A team of 35 skilled workmen in Bhopal, India, have already spent more than a year and a half recreating the splendor of the Agra landmark in miniature; from the iconic golden dome to the Arabic calligraphy inscribed on the doors.
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Deliberately made old pages, gilded images and time consuming work. Medieval Miniature books by Ericka VanHorn

Medieval Miniature books by Ericka VanHorn is a real piece of art. American artist of applied art Ericka VanHorn is from Denver, Colorado. She has been creating miniatures of various kinds since 1997, but became known for her Books. All these fabulous collectible books are handmade in miniature 1″ to 1′ dollhouse scale, or in 1/12th scale. Books are aged and stained to give an ancient medieval look. So there may be some burnt or stained spots for effect. Ericka VanHorn’s collection consists of handmade leather bound books with a steam-punk, a wizard, a vampire, or religious theme.
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Abe’s Millennium, 1973. Painting on coin by American artist Jacqueline Lou Skaggs

American designer Jacqueline Lou Skaggs came up to coins in a very creative way – she paints miniature pictures on them. She says that as a conceptual artist she is interested in the idea of the possibility of the use of money as a canvas. Painting on coins by Jacqueline Lou Skaggs is a time consuming art work. Some were drawn almost immediately, portraits require more time – the slightest inaccurate touch of brush could spoil the whole picture and the eyes or mouth turned into something shapeless. Before work every penny had to be carefully cleaned. To do this, Jacqueline used alcohol and for drawing she used the smallest brush.
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1820-1830 brooch. Italian micro mosaic jewelry

Italian micro mosaic jewelry

Micro-mosaic is painting, laid with tiny pieces of glass called tesserae. In some cases, the number reached 5000 per square inch (2.54 x 2.54 cm). This technique which came into vogue in the 17th century and flourished in the 18th century in the Vatican Mosaic workshop, continues to this day. Also there were workshops in Venice and Florence. Micro mosaic jewelry became popular in the 17-19 centuries in connection with the fashion for travel among the aristocracy. From their trips travelers brought souvenirs – micromosaic depicting historical sites, or sent to their relatives as postcards with pictures on them. Especially popular were the Italian ruins.
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Mother cat with her kittens. Felted composition by Russian artist of applied art Irina Andreeva

They are not toys, not souvenirs and not even interior decoration items, this is felted sculpture by Irina Andreeva, Russian artist of applied art. All that is shown below, made ​​of simple material suitable for creativity – felt. Irina has created the whole gallery of cows, butterflies, pieces of furniture, dolls, and finally, the whole composition of felt. Talented craftswoman Irina Andreeva graduated from graphic arts department of the Pedagogical University in the city of Izhevsk, Russia. Recently, along with her husband and young son she has moved to Moscow and became at once a participant of art festivals. Her art works made her the winner of the International Festival of the author textile dolls “Eve’s Rib”.
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Button ‘Cat trying to catch a lizard’. copper

Antique buttons art. Button for a long time served as a decorative ornament. Buttons were made ​​from precious metals, coral, amber, pearls. The shape, size, decoration and number of buttons on clothing informed about a person’s wealth and social status. Some garments were often more than a hundred buttons. Fur coat might be cheaper than the existing buttons on it. Historically, fashions in buttons have also reflected trends in applied aesthetics and the applied visual arts, with button-makers using techniques from jewellery making, ceramics, sculpture, painting, printmaking, metalworking, weaving and others.
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Cameo, 12th century; frame – the end of the 16th century. Agate, gold, pearls, precious stones

Antique gem carving art is known as Glyptics, and it is the art of carving on multicoloured or precious stones. Glyptic works are called engraved gems. The activity is called gem carving, and the artists – gem-cutters. References to antique gems, and intaglios in a jewellery context, will almost always mean carved gems. Gems with embedded images (intaglio), and with bas-relief images of convex (cameo) are distinguished. They were born of the classical art of antiquity, an art which poeticized and proclaimed as aesthetically pleasing all that was best and most worthy in the ideal of harmonious and perfect man. A craftsman could spend months and even years on the creation of a single cameo. E. Babelon, the French scholar of the early twentieth century and one of the most eminent connoisseurs of glyptics, remarked that it took as long to make a large cameo as to build a whole cathedral.
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