An artist in Taiwan specialising in miniature sculptures celebrated the Year of the Goat by carving two tiny goats standing on the top of pencil tips.

The word used in Chinese for 'Goat' is 'Yang' but, the generic term can often be used to describe other animals such as a sheep or a ram or even an antelope.

The animals are often depicted with horns in Lunar New Year images.

Chen Forng-shean said he believed his two miniatures, one Taiwanese Formosan serow, and one Tibetan antelope, are the smallest goat sculptures in the world.

The Taiwanese Formosan serow sculpture is 0.08 centimetres long, 0.04 centimetres wide and 0.07 centimetres tall.

The Tibetan antelope sculpture is slightly bigger at 0.18 centimetres in length, 0.06 centimetres in width and 0.4 centimetres in height.

The sculptures cannot be clearly seen with the naked eye, but need to be appreciated by looking through a magnifying glass.

Chen said it took him half a year, and 10 failed attempts to complete the two art pieces made of resin.

He used to be a designer for Taiwan's Central Engraving and Printing Plant, but the 59-year-old retired to focus on his miniature artwork, which he took up as a hobby more than 30 years ago as a weekend project.

The Lunar New Year, or The Year of the Goat, begins on February 19.