The tradition of making diminutive furniture, or miniature furniture, has origins in Europe and was brought to this region through our early American ancestors. This exhibition will bring together a sampling of nineteenth-century diminutive furniture primarily from Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee. Commonplace furnishings such as desks, chests, pie safes, and chairs were made on occasion – some with simple materials and ingenuity while others fine timber and carpentry skill. Today, these diminutive pieces are considered rare, and therefore greatly admired when discovered. Other pieces such as pottery, baskets and small portraits will offer a full view of historic life on a miniature scale.