TULSA, OK.- One of Philbrook’s smallest collections (literally) is the focus of a new exhibition through July 3, Precious Possessions: The Art of the Portrait Miniature. The objects on view are portraits, but not in the traditional sense – they are portrait miniatures, a specialized and unique form of portraiture that emerged in the sixteenth-century and largely died out with the development of photography. These delicate objects are, as their name implies, diminutive. They were worn as jewelry, or otherwise held and gazed at. Traditionally, they were given as tokens of affection between friends, expressions of commitment by lovers, or created as tiny memorials to recently deceased loved ones. Because of the way in which they literally symbolized family, friends and lovers, a complex constellation of ritual and tradition emerged around these tiny objects. And yet, despite these engaging qualities, miniatures are of