David A Lindon, a micro artist from Bournemouth, created the tiny piece, called the Yellow Smiley Face.

The sculpture is invisible to the human eye.

Bournemouth University lab helps measure 11-micron artwork using microscope (Image: Supplied)

Mr Lindon, known for his minute recreations of paintings and sculptures that fit in the eye of a needle, turned to Bournemouth University’s life sciences lab for help in measuring the size.

Given its minuscule size, the sculpture needed to be measured with a high-resolution microscope.

Operation of the equipment was carried out by postgraduate researcher Jack Rose.

The sculpture was stored on the cover of a first-class stamp and placed on a microdot on the eye of the late Queen for reference under the microscope.

Its dimensions were confirmed to be 11.037 by 12.330 microns.

Mr Lindon said: “I am thrilled at this news and grateful for Bournemouth University for measuring it.

“The Yellow Smiley Face sculpture beats my previous World Record of the Red Lego Brick sculpture, which is bigger than this and measures 0.02517mm by 0.02184mm.”

Lindon’s artwork, invisible to the naked eye, beats previous Lego Brick record (Image: Supplied)

To put its size into perspective, Mr Lindon compared his sculpture to a particle of talcum powder, a human blood cell, mould spores, bacteria and even a fog droplet.

He agreed to measure the sculpture against a grain of sand from Bournemouth beach, which towered over the almost invisible artwork.

David has since created a micro sculpture of a graduation certificate being grasped by the hand of a newly qualified student.

This piece is less than a millimetre wide and is set on a solid gold plinth.

Dr Sarah Elliott said: “We were really excited to be able to help David achieve his Guiness World Record.”

“Our students will be fascinated to see the sculpture that David has created for us, and we hope that this will inspire students to think of life in miniature in different ways.”

The stamp on which the Yellow Smiley Face sculpture resides has been mounted on a glass tower and housed inside a sealed glass box.