i
COULD YOU PLEASE, RETURN IT TO RECEPTION ONCE YOU HAVE USED IT.
ENGLISH
THANK YOU
ROOM 1 N R1-1
A BABY BOUTIQUE
Miniature scenes Author: Marie-Paule Hostyn (Brussels, Belgium)
Please come in! You will find everything you need for your baby: feeding bottles of course, and a wide range of clothing crocheted with the greatest care. There are teddy bears too and many other toys – the boxes are full of them – you won’t go away empty-handed!
R1-2
A MILLINER
Author: Ruth Pollock (United Kingdom)
Which hat would you like to try on? They are all magnificent, made of silk, felt, decorated with feathers, flowers, pearls… There are also accessories for dining in town: a “petit point” handbag, leather gloves… You won’t be able to resist buying something.
R1-3
THE FLORIST
Author: Ruth Pollock (United Kingdom)
Are you looking for something for the house or the garden? You are sure to find plants, flowers, and pots to please you. And if you are short of earth, we have sacks full.
R1-4
AN OLD CHEMIST’S SHOP
Author: Adam Pascal (France)
All the furniture is made of pear wood. Look at the sculptured capitals and basreliefs with their floral motifs. The jars are of porcelain or blown glass. The chemist is serious and well-dressed. And what ladies! What clothes! Aren’t you tempted to enter?
R1-5
THE CLOCKMAKER « RIGAU»
Author: Ruth Pollock (United Kingdom)
The House of Rigau offers every kind of clock and alarm clock: to hang on the wall or stand on a table or mantelpiece… made of different materials, carved wood, metal etc. And all the tools for the delicate work of the clockmaker’s trade are to be found in his workshop to the rear of the premises.
R1-6
« FRIVOLITIES » Author: Marie-Paule Hostyn (Brussels, Belgium) Here the ladies are sure to find everything they need to enhance their figures. Some items are imported directly from Paris! A wonderful trying-on cabin with mirror is at the clients’ disposal. Gentlemen don’t hesitate to give the ladies your opinion and to treat them!
R1-7
AN OLD HAIRDRESSING SALON
Author: Cristina Noriega (Gijón, Spain)
Take a trip back in time to visit this hairdressing salon from the 1920s. Have you noticed the strange apparatus needed for a perm? There is also an amusing hairdryer and a steriliser for the hairdresser’s equipment. Among the revolving chairs there is one reserved for children with a small horse. There are a multitude of perfumes and the shade chart offers a wide range of colours for dyes. It really is an exquisite salon.
R1-8
GENERAL STORE Author: Ruth Pollock (United Kingdom) If you travelled through the Wild West of America you would come across this type of store where you can find a pot pourri of goods: fishing trophies, coffee grinders, cake tins, moulds for making biscuits… an Aladdin’s cave from which to stock up.
R1-9
THE « CANDELARIA » BAZAAR Author: Enrique Rodríguez (Mexico) Calendaria is an emporium that can be seen from afar! There is something for everyone. A sewing kit, cakes of soap, dried fish, graters, special devices for stirring chocolate while it is cooking, basins for holy water and toffee apples… mmm, they are so good!
R1-10
A CHINA SHOP Author: Ruth Pollock (United Kingdom) Among the displays of china in this quality store you can see plates with classical floral motifs but also dishes with blue designs inspired by Chinese willow pattern.
R1-11
THE MASK BOUTIQUE Author: Julio C. Gallardo (Peru) Have you been invited to a masked ball? You will be spoiled for choice as you search among the multitude of masks hanging on the walls. Faithful to the Peruvian tradition they have all been made from a mixture of plaster and flour then painted in all the colours of the rainbow. They are worn to the numerous festivals that are a feature of Latin American life. If you would like one made to measure don’t hesitate to ask. The workshop is in the left corner of the boutique.
R1-12,13,14
R1-15
DIVERS BOUTIQUES Author: anonym ous “Taralli” “Salumi” ( Napels, Italy) “ Fruit” (Colombia) A street vendor’s stall in Naples: taste these typical “Taralli” cakes! A Colombian four seasons vendor specialising in tropical fruit. A cheese and processed meat stall of the type that can still be found on street corners in Italy.
A BISTRO
Author: Julio C. Gallardo (Peru)
Clients enjoying a good meal and a glass of wine in a bistro… would you like a table?
ROOM 2
Mini miniatures
PINNOCHIO AND GIUSEPPE
Author: P ascale C asar osa (Lyon, France)
Did you know that Pinnochio was not such a liar as he was made out to be? As strange as it may seem it is true. At this moment he is sitting in the pistachio shell that his old friend Giuseppe is working on. It is very small but there is nothing missing: pots, brushes, tools all in painted resin… And the cat which can’t leave anything alone!
R2-1
TOBACCO JAR
Author: A nonym ous (China)
Tobacco brown glass s. XVIII, the Qing Dynasty. Piece carved in high relief on the sides with two themes, one bat at the top, a symbol of good omen and a deer at the bottom, which could evoke peace, solitude and melancholy. The base and the neck are decorated with a floral border. The plug is pasta red glass on a golden ring. Inside there are two scenes painted, in center on each face of landscape male figures. There are also carved seal of the author.
R2-2
SAINT PETER’S SQUARE IN ROME
Author: A nonym ous ( Italy)
A beautiful brooch showing Saint Peter’s square by using the same technique as Roman mosaics: tiny pieces of mosaic of different colours and shapes make up the picture. Admire the shades of colour in the sky, the windows of the Pope’s palace, the two fountains in the square.
R2-3, 4, 5, 6, 7 R2-3
NOAH'S ARK
Figures carved in polychrome wood sticks. Author: R icalde (Mexico)
You will never tire of admiring Noah in his white robe leading the animals into the ark. The parrots for instance are waiting their turn perched on the ship’s rail and look at the turtles hastening out of the water to get aboard!
R2-4
THE TROJAN HORSE Author: R icalde (Mexico) Look at the armour of the two armies battling so fiercely, one side trying to enter the city and the other trying to defend it on the ramparts, at the gates and beside the horse. The Trojans are in red, the Greeks in blue. At the centre of the battle “Death”, robed in black, awaits…
R2-5
THE CIRCUS
Author: R icalde (Mexico)
Let the show begin! The entire troupe is there, eighteen performers not counting the animals… trapeze artists, muscle men, tightrope walkers, clowns…
R2-6
THE BULLFIGHTING ARENA Author: R icalde (Mexico) What a strange corrida! The sixteen spectators are very odd: a group of people wearing typical Mexican clothing: a devil, a photographer, the grim reaper…
R2-7
THE FLYING MEN OF PAPANTLA
Author: R icalde (Mexico)
This is a folk dance dating back to the Indian cultures in the Veracruz and Puebla regions in Mexico. 4 or 6 men dance suspended from a 25 metre high mast! At the end of the ceremony they allow themselves to fall to the ground while the ropes to which they are attached unroll. These dances were dedicated to the pre-Hispanic gods of Mexico as a prayer for fertile soil.
R2-8
THE « L’OLD LADY »
Author: Mar y Vega (Bordeaux, France)
These “old ladies” are found in large numbers on the hills overlooking San Francisco in America. In this one you will appreciate the refinement of her adornment and make up… decorated wallpaper, leather sofa, lace curtains, the style of bed and lighting appropriate to the era.
R2-9
FIGURINES
Author: A nonym ous (Mexico)
All these figurines were made in Mexico from the leaves that enclose the corn cob. The leaves are dyed in different colours, cut into fine ribbons and finally woven. Look at the turkey with its tail spread out.
R2-10
TOBACCO JARS
Author: A nonym ous (China)
Wonderful scenes have been painted on these Chinese tobacco jars. What a work of art – especially when you realise that they have been painted from the inside of the jar using with a brush with one single hair taken from a pig’s moustache! There are even inscriptions giving the motif of the picture and the painter’s name.
R2-11
PANORAMA
Author: A nonym ous (China)
What a large landscape is set out on this hollow sphere! This glass too has been painted from the inside via a hole on the base of the sphere. The technique which uses a brush with one single hair and a variety of colours is very complex.
R2-12
BOXES
Author: C ar iou (Lardernau, France)
A delightful collection of miniature boxes filled with other, even smaller miniatures: a ship’s captain’s chest with his map of the world, compass and telescope; a dentist’s box with his miniscule instruments; a box of duelling pistols; a box containing tubes of oil paint and brushes…
R2-13
HOMAGE TO CHAPLIN
Author: P ascale C asar osa (Lyon, France)
Charlie Chaplin balancing with his red brush cleans dust off the machines at great speed, as in the film “Modern Times”.
R2-14
THE TIGHTROPE WALKING ANT
Author: P ascale C asar osa (Lyon, France)
A stylish ant walking the tightrope with the aid of an umbrella that she is holding in one of her many legs!
R2-15
THE BALANCING ELEPHANT
Author: P ascale C asar osa (Lyon, France)
This elephant is balancing on one foot on the point of a needle while spinning a red ball on the tip of its trunk! What talent!
R2-16
BONE SCULPTURES
Author: R ober to R uiz (Mèxico)
All these bone sculptures are the work of the Mexican artist Roberto Ruiz. The subjects of these pieces are the “calacas”, i.e. skeletons, which have long inspired artists from this country. The sculpture top left recalls a famous fresco painted by Diego Riviera “Dream of a Sunday afternoon on the Promenade Centrale” carried out in 1947. Death is ever present in Mexican daily life as a way of getting to know it and accepting it, as it threatens us all. Look at the sculpture top left where the appearance-conscious skeleton is carefully combing his last remaining hair.
ROOM 3 R3-1
Micro miniatures
JEWELS
Author: A natoly K onenko (Omsk, Russia)
What jewels! A necklace and earrings made of pearl, obsidian and onyx mounted on gold. The set is displayed on half an apple seed mounted on a fragment of fossilised resin.
R3-2
TWO SHIPS Author: A natoly K onenko (Omsk, Russia) Two ships made of an alloy of copper and gold, wind-filled sails, sailing across the sea, the horizon of which is shown by the fine membrane of an insect wing.
R3-3
BESALU BRIDGE
Author: David M. Reyes (Spain)
The Roman bridge, symbol of Besalu, painted in oils on the head of a pin.
R3-4
THE CAMEL IN THE EYE OF A NEEDLE Author: A natoly K onenko (Omsk, Russia) Not just one camel but a string of a dozen camels travelling at different speeds towards the oasis where three Bedouins are waiting for them under the palm trees.
R3-5
JEWELS
Author: A natoly K onenko (Omsk, Russia)
This tiny insect already has a magnificent agate necklace but still wants to receive this beautiful set composed of necklace and earrings.
R3-6
THE SAGRADA FAMILIA Author: David M. Reyes (Spain) The church of the holy family begun a century ago by Gaudi in Barcelona as you have never seen it until now, finally finished! It stands on a pinhead!
R3-7
A COUPLE OF BUFFALO Author: A natoly K onenko (Omsk, Russia) This happy pair are browsing on the antenna of a small insect which would not stop bothering them! Peace at last!
R3-8
THE TRAIN IN THE EYE OF A NEEDLE Author: A natoly K onenko (Omsk, Russia) Hurry along there, the train is about to leave through the eye of a needle! A train composed of sixteen coaches, not counting the engine with its driver, is made from an alloy of gold and copper!
R3-9
PAPYRUS
Author: A natoly K onenko (Omsk, Russia)
What a treasure! This papyrus covered in hieroglyphics represents the goddess Hathor.
R3-10
THE EIFFEL TOWER Author: A natoly K onenko (Omsk, Russia) The Eiffel Tower in Paris has been reduced a hundred thousand times in order to fit onto this poppy seed. The work, of which the metallic structure can be seen, is set on half a date stone!
R3-11
A FLOWER ON A PEARL Author: Andrey Rikovanov (Saint Petersburg, Russia) This jewel has been sculptured on a blade of gold. It represents a flower with all its petals supported by a long stalk decorated with leaves. The whole is lying on a pearl.
R3-12
GIRONA CATHEDRAL Author: David M. Reyes (Spain) The Gothic Cathedral of Girona also stands on a pinhead. Admire the seven windows at the top of the faรงade as well as the rose window and finally the magnificent bell tower.