Gold, jasper and carnelian

By Alexis Kugel, Johann Christian Neuber

Subjects: Art criticism, Exhibitions, Collectors and collecting, Stone carving, Artists, germany, Art objects, Incrustation (Stone carving), Criticism and interpretation, Art objects, collectors and collecting, Catalogues raisonnés, History

Description: Johann Christian Neuber (1736-1808) was a goldsmith and mineralogist at the Saxon Court. In 1769 he became director of the Grünes Gewölbe, the magnificent State Treasury, and was appointed court jeweler in 1775. He specialized in creating small gold boxes, chatelaines and watchcases decorated with semiprecious stones, such as agate, jasper and carnelian. This lavishly illustrated book will give readers their first comprehensive introduction to the master craftsman's oeuvre presenting boxes and other decorative objects from the Grünes Gewölbe, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and private collections in Germany, France and New York. It also features the so-called 'Breteuil Table', still owned by the family for which it was made as a diplomatic gift nearly 250 years ago. Exhibition: Grünes Gewölbe, Dresden / Frick Collection, New York / Galerie J. Kugel, Paris. 2012.