Antique Signed Miniature Maritime Oil on Canvas on Board. Delightfully detailed sailing ship on windswept seas. Small lighthouse in the distance on the left. Signed "J. Jenner" bottom left. Canvas is thin and pressed between the board and the frame, held in place with nails. Has both a  metal string across the back and a small round hanger at the top of the  wooden frame. 

Overall Size: 6 3/4 x 7 1/2 in. 

Sight Size: 3 1/2 x 4 3/4 in. 

Miniature art includes paintings, engravings, and sculptures that are very small. It has a long history that dates back to prehistory. The portrait miniature is the most common form in recent centuries, and from ancient times engraved gems, often used as impression seals, and cylinder seals in various materials were very important. Most surviving examples of figurative art from the Indus Valley civilization and in Minoan art are very small seals. Gothic boxwood miniatures are very small carvings in wood, used for rosary beads and the like. Western paintings in illuminated manuscripts are known as miniatures, even if not very small; this sense of the word in fact has a different derivation, from a Latin word for a reddish pigment. Miniature art in its many varied forms is prized by collectors, and museums around the world have collections of miniature paintings, drawings, original prints and etchings, and sculptures. Miniature art societies, such as the World Federation of Miniaturists (WFM) and the Royal Miniature Society, often disagree on defining the maximum size covered by the term. A frequently used definition is that a piece of miniature art can be held in the palm of the hand, or that it covers less than 25 square inches, or 100 centimeters squared. Some exhibits require the subjects to be depicted in 1/6 actual size, and in all paintings the spirit of miniaturization should be maintained.