MINICOY 



8433 



MINIMUM WAGE 



nil.-, of a bright blue background, 

 ill in representing' 

 .1 roiiliire. Colour 

 scheme* improved as time went on, 

 < Mivt-r using in many in- 

 -i a rose-coloured curtain, or 

 Minn- sue!, drapery. The Olivers 

 ll(.\i.-<l l.y l!..,Uns(d. 1605), 

 n m. in of greater ability; who, not 

 entirely iiculeeting the blue back- 

 ground, introduced <_'lo\\in'_: colour 

 schemes, and painted miniatures 

 in importance than his pre- 

 -iors had done. 



Ife was succeeded by Samuel 

 Cooper (l(>09-72), who excelled 

 all who had gone before, and 

 \\ hose work indignity, breadth, and 

 ability has never been equalled. 

 The constantly repeated Walpole 

 phrase to the effect that a minia- 

 ture l>y Cooper is like a life-sized 

 \ Hi Dyck seen through the small 

 end of a telescope is by no means 

 lacking in truth. Cooper's small 

 portraits are perfect reproductions 

 of character, painted with mar- 

 vellous truth, keen insight, and 

 ^Inking ability. They are life- 

 like representations, subtle de- 

 lineations of complex character. 

 Ifis brother Alexander (d. 1660), 

 who worked in Sweden, Denmark, 

 and Holland, was not so great. 

 Lawrence Crosse (d. 1724) was a 

 marvellous painter of lace, and an 

 i ute n -sting group of men, who should 

 receive attention, were the mem- 

 bers of the Lens family (18th cen- 

 tury), half a dozen of whom were 

 able iiiin iat ure painters. 



Working on Ivory 

 The second great period of Eng- 

 lish miniature painting is that of 

 the 18th century. The introduc- 

 tion of ivory had given fresh pos- 

 sibilities to the art, and revealed 

 the chance of brilliant execution, 

 luminous quality, and all the 

 charm that .the new material, 

 coupled with facility of brush - 

 w o i k. could originate. At the head 

 of the school stands Richard Cos- 

 way (1740-1821), a man who had 

 no equal, although many imitators, 

 an exquisite colourist, possessed 

 of just the right ability to flatter, 

 coupled with the skill of repre- 

 senting in a few easy strokes the 

 superficialities of the faces he had 

 to represent. 



More serious in his intention, 

 iinrl also more solid in his execu- 

 tion, came George Engleheart 

 (1T."J 1829), a man of prodigious 

 industry and extraordinary ac- 

 complishment. Of quite another 

 sort was John Smart (1741-1811), 

 a profound student of the human 

 face, a draughtsman of exquisite 

 ability and rigid perfection, but 

 a lover of quieter and more Qua- 

 ker! ike colour schemes than were 

 his rivals. 



At another angle stand the two 

 I'limers, notably Andrew (1763- 

 1837), remarkable for their bril- 

 liant portraits, somewhat mono- 

 tonous, and often meretricious, 

 Ixit vivid, palpitating, attractive. 

 Those of lesser importance were 

 Meyer (1735-89), Ozias Hum- 

 phry (1742-1810), Shelley (d. 

 1808), Edridge (1769-1821), Wood 

 (1768-1809), Scouler (d. 1810), 

 and Grimaldi (1751-1830); and 

 around them were the numerous 

 miniature painters of the 18th 

 century, whose work crowded the 

 Royal Academy of the day. 

 Amongst these were many such 

 as Hill (c. 1770-91), Bogle (c. 

 1769-1803), Vaslet (fl. 1775), 

 who at times could paint a minia- 

 ture with such extraordinary skill 

 that the object became a tour de 

 force ; but these occasional por- 

 traits were like meteors, Sashing 

 across the artistic sky, and their 

 usual productions were on a far 

 lower level, although almost in- 

 variably artistic productions. 

 French Miniature Painters 



The 19th century saw the de- 

 generation of miniature painting, 

 although the works of Newton 

 (1785-1869), Ross (1794-1860), 

 Thorburn (d. 1885), and others are 

 worthy of attention, but costume 

 and coiffure were not favourable, 

 and the period could not be 

 termed an artistic one. In France 

 miniature painting has had great 

 exponents, although one of the 

 greatest French miniature pain- 

 ters, Hall (1739-93), was a Swede 

 rather than a Frenchman. French 

 miniature art, however, attained 

 its zenith when Isabey (1767- 

 1855) and Augustin (1759-1832) 

 were working. In enamel no one 

 has ever equalled Petitot (1607- 

 91), while Prieur (d. 1677) comes 

 very close to him. 



Lately the art has shown a re- 

 crudescence, and there are skilful 

 miniature painters living at the 

 present time. Two or three stand 

 out pre-eminent. The greatest per- 

 haps of all is a Dane, J. W. Von 

 Rehling Qvistgaard. The leader 

 in England is Alyn Williams, and 

 others whose names deserve notice 

 are Ernest Lloyd, Gertrude Thorn 

 son, M. Edgerley, Bess Norris, P. 

 Quinnell, and Laura Hills. See 

 Cosway, R. ; Hazlitt, W. 



O. C. Williamson 

 Bibliography. History of Minia- 

 ture Art, J. L. Propert, 1887 ; 

 Handbook of Portrait Miniatures, 

 1897 ; Lives of R. Cosway, 1897 ; 

 G. Engleheart, 1902 : A. and N. 

 Plimer, 1903 ; How to Identify 

 Portrait Miniatures, 1904 ; History 

 of Portrait Miniatures, 1904, G. C. 

 Williamson; Miniatures, D. Heath, 

 1905 ; Chats on Old Miniatures, J. 

 J. Foster, 1908. 



Minicoy. One of the Laccadive 

 Islands, Indian Ocean. It u an 

 isolated coral atoll between the 

 main Laccadive and the Andaman 

 islands, and is joined with the 8. 

 group of the Laccadives under the 

 admini.stration of the collector of 

 Malabar. 



Minim. Smallest practical unit 

 of liquid measurement in apothe- 

 caries' or wine measure. It is equal 

 to one drop. There are 60 minims 

 to one fluid drachm, 480 to a fluid 

 ounce, and 9,600 to one pint. The 

 minim is denoted by the symbol m. 



Minim. Musical note consist- 

 ing of an open oval head with a 

 stem, & Its time-value is one 

 half of a semi breve ( O) or two 

 crotchets (^). It is sometimes a 

 pulse note, especially in Church 

 music, and its symbol in the time 

 signature is 2. Thus f means three 

 minims in a bar. See Time. 



Minimum (Lat.mintmv, small- 

 est). Literally, the smallest amount 

 possible, the opposite being maxi- 

 mum. A minimum price is the 

 lowest possible price which a pro- 

 spective seller will take for his 

 property. See Maxima and Minima. 



Minimum Wage. Term gener- 

 ally used for the fixing by law of 

 the lowest wage, or rate of wages, 

 at which a worker may be em- 

 ployed. The principle of a mini- 

 mum wage was put forward in the 

 19th century, as the idea of laiswz 

 faire gave way to that of state in- 

 terference in industry, and to-day 

 it is universally accepted. Owing 

 to variation in the cost of living 

 and conditions of employment, it 

 has not been found practicable to 

 lay down a universal minimum. 



In the United Kingdom a be- 

 ginning was made in the Trade 

 Boards Act of 1909 which sche- 

 duled certain industries for treat- 

 ment, boards to be set up in these 

 for the fixing of minimum rates of 

 wages. This was done in the box- 

 making, tailoring, lace-finishing, 

 and other industries. In 1912, by 

 the Coal Mines (Minimum Wage) 

 Act, the miners secured minimum 

 rates to be fixed by joint boards of 

 masters and men in the various 

 districts. By the Corn Production 

 Act, 1917, the principle was ex- 

 tended to agricultural labourers, 

 whose minimum wage was fixed 

 at 25s. a week. Higher rates 

 were afterwards ordered by the 

 various district boards, but the 

 Act was repealed in 1921. 



The economic objection to the 

 minimum wage is that it tends to 

 drive the less-efficient workers 



