As a respite from the horrors of war, I suggest a visit to the current exhibition of Netsuke at the York City Art Gallery?

Everybody is fascinated by the view through the wrong end of a telescope, the scaled-down world of the modeller and miniaturist. Add wry humour, shrewd observation and consummate skill and that's Netsuke.

Those who consider painstaking craftsmanship incompatible with art will be disappointed. Everyone else should prepare to be delighted and astonished. A word of advice: take your magnifier!

William Dixon Smith,

Welland Rise,

Acomb,

York.

The total raised in the 1999 Marie Curie Daffodil Campaign was £3,618.29 and not as stated in last night's letter. Apologies.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.