 
An ivory carving titled "Two Fishermen with an Octopus and Basket" from the Japanese Edo period (1615-1868).
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In art, as in life, good things can come in tiny packages -- consider, for example, the new exhibit at the Yale University Art Gallery.
Titled "The Miniature in the Arts of Asia," the display features a variety of small-scale art objects from China, Japan, India and Southeast Asia. These include netsuke, inro, cosmetic boxes, ivory figurines, miniature buildings and animals, scholars' "playthings," diminutive cups and jars, and Buddhist votive figures. These tiny objects are interspersed with larger paintings, textiles, screens and decorative objects featuring minutely detailed workmanship. The works in the exhibition cover a period from the Neolithic age to the 19th century.
The installation, designed to complement the exhibition of American portrait miniatures opening in October, is one in a thematic series highlighting aspects of the Yale Art Gallery's permanent collection of Asian art. "The Miniature in the Arts of Asia" was organized by David A. Sensabaugh, curator of Asian art, and assistant curator Sadako Ohki, and is enhanced by significant loans from private collectors. It will continue through Dec. 10.
Many of the objects on display are from Chinese tombs and were intended to accompany the deceased into the afterlife to make sure the underground spirits were aware of the individual's importance. Among these is a ceramic replica of a multi-storied tower, a farmhouse with animals, horse sculptures, court musicians and precious containers of all kinds.
Related artworks are grouped together throughout the exhibition. One of the first cases holds the 12 animals of the zodiac, intricately worked in ivory, silver, and wood, from China and Japan. Another case contains bronze mirrors with decorated backs, used as early as the second millennium B.C.
There are also a wide variety of Japanese netsuke, the toggle fasteners for sashes, as well as inro, decorated lacquer containers that hung, like a purse, from the sash. A selection of small-scale objects used in a Chinese scholar's studio includes a mini-screen designed to shield the scholar's writings from the wind.
In conjunction with "The Miniature in the Arts of Asia," art historian Melanie Drogin will give an art à la carte talk in the exhibition on Wednesday, Sept. 20, at 12:20 p.m. Docent Zelma Moss will give a gallery talk, "Netsuke and Other Small Objects," on Tuesday, Nov. 28, at 2 p.m., and Thursday, Nov. 30, at noon. These talks are free and open to the public.
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