Miniature

Let’s set the timer, here we go: a miniature, a small representation of something big. And whilst we’re on the subject of small representations we talk about a copy.
If you make or have a copy of something big, the question is whether this is permitted and does not constitute plagiarism. Is permissions asked?
This being plagiarism would actually make perfect sense, as many things are imitated on a small scale.

I remember the letter tray, yes, that’s what we call it, and this tray no longer contained letters, the sort used in letterpress printing, but tiny miniatures of all sorts of things. This was very popular for over ten years and those sellers certainly made a fortune.
These miniature figurines could be made of earthenware, but also of pewter, bronze, copper, stone and wood. In other words: there was something to suit every collector.Collecting miniatures was therefore definitely a craze on which people spent a great deal of money, but of which they were also proud.
Very occasionally, I still come across some of these little figurines in a charity shop. Perhaps some of them are even used in a doll’s house, but where have the rest gone?

Vintage is back in vogue these days and is essentially the modern term for second-hand items, although ‘vintage’ should actually be at least 25 to 30 years old; if items are 100 years old, they are classified as antiques. We don’t hear anything about antiques these days; it seems as if these items no longer exist, but that’s not true, of course. The word ‘vintage’ is also misused, and it’s simply a fad to own something that’s vintage. Incidentally, you shouldn’t be surprised if someone walks into a vintage shop and wonders why the second hand stuff, used bits and bobs are so expensive in other words it's junk, although the quality of the materials used is way better than what we produce today.

It depends, of course, on where you grew up, but I now see lots of items that my grandparents used to have, things that are very familiar and I find myself thinking: if only it had all been kept. Those who threw it away back then calling it old fashioned are hunting for it today paying large sums.
These days, you can make a great income by selling it, at least what’s left of it and isn’t stored away or ended up on the local landfill site or the incinerator.

What does the future hold? History repeats itself, so everything that was once in fashion will come back, unless a war breaks out in which we simply no longer value these things and everything is chopped to pieces and burned in the stove. Perhaps then the miniature will be the only proof of something that once existed and has not changed because it does not fit in with some notion of the present day.

_{3.10.26
INKtober prompt: see title
photo Ralph}