cabinet picture

American  

noun

1. a small easel painting, usually under 3 feet (0.9 meters) in width and formerly exhibited in a cabinet or special room.

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Etymology

Origin of cabinet picture

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

This story is on the scale of a cabinet picture.

From The Easiest Way in Housekeeping and Cooking Adapted to Domestic Use or Study in Classes by Campbell, Helen

On the other hand, a "cabinet picture," a small panel, will admit of microscopic detail if it be not so painted that the detail is all you can see.

From The Painter in Oil A complete treatise on the principles and technique necessary to the painting of pictures in oil colors by Parkhurst, Daniel Burleigh

Each tale is in fact a cabinet picture, combining history and landscape.

From The Legendary and Poetical Remains of John Roby author of 'Traditions of Lancashire', with a sketch of his literary life and character by Roby, John

At the Dublin Exhibition he was greatly struck by a little cabinet picture by an Anglo-German artist, one Webb, and was eager to secure it, though he objected to the price.

From John Forster by Fitzgerald, Percy Hethrington

Then through a vista its waters would sparkle, suggesting an exquisite cabinet picture.

From Barriers Burned Away by Roe, Edward Payson