About the Museum

The Miniatures Museum of Taiwan (Chinese: 袖珍博物館; pinyin: Xiùzhēn Bówùguǎn)is the first museum to collect miniatures in Asia. The museum was founded on March 28, 1997, by Mr. Lin Wen-ren and his wife. It is located in Zhongshan District, Taipei, Taiwan. Mr. Lin and his wife enjoyed buying little houses and toy cars for their children while traveling for business purposes. While in The Netherlands, they discovered miniature art and were deeply attracted. They began buying accessories, furniture, and assembled miniature houses. At the same time, the couple participated in auctions and joined international miniature art associations. They began planning their museum in 1993. The logo of the museum comes from "Rose Mansion", one of the museum's most famed collections. Chosen as one of ten most significant miniature art works of America in twenty-five years, "Rose Mansion" consumed Dr. Reginald Twigg almost four years to complete. After his elaborate research and study the once famous architecture has been brought back to life as you now see in the museum. The logo represents delicate, real, dream-like, romantic, and historically correct nature of miniature arts. Miniatures originated within German palaces of the 16th century as tools for teaching aristocratic children, but appreciation for the art form did not pass to other parts of the world until much later during the 19th century. Today, miniature masterpieces are found throughout Europe and North America covering subjects from complete settings to intricate accessories of tableware and wall paintings. Reproductions tend to follow a 1:12 standard scale of accuracy, or half scale at 1:24. Taiwan's museum is the first to specialize in contemporary miniatures and features two formats: "doll house" and room box with cut away views. It is ranked second in the world, with a collection of nearly 200 items. Founder Lin Wen-Ren and his wife sourced each item while travelling in Europe and the United States.