my former BIL used to make miniatures. he was very good, and pretty successful. he did it for a decade or so.
one of his pieces is on display here in chicago, in colleen moore's fairy castle at the museum of science and industry. a pretty little harpsichord in the music room.
every once in a while one of his pieces pops up on ebay. they dont go for the kind of money that he once got for them, which is a darn good thing for me.
the other day i got a beautiful little piano.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/291954471755
i have several of his pieces like this, plus he did some reproductions. very high quality work. funny that the prices are about the same. he did a set of musical instruments, then a set of furniture. i have a couple of the instruments, a pipe organ and a harp.
also have a tiny model ship in a display case.
pretty fun. my sister divorced him about 10 years ago. i always liked him, but they had a fraught relationship. one reason he quit doing the miniatures was the conflict over all the travel he was doing, and the rich folks he was hanging w.
he is quite an artist, really. he used to paint, and he was pretty good. my sister is very talented, also. their son blows my mind he is so good.
we live in a crazy time where space and time seem to be bending to technology. it sure is fun to step into the wayback machine.