Mineralogical snuffbox
Mineralogical snuffbox
Germany, Dresden
Circa 1780–1785
attributed to Johann Christian Neuber
Three-colour gold, Saxon hardstones, simulated pearls, glass
3.4 x 8.9 x 6.7 cm
Although this box closely resembles the numbered Steinkabinette for which Neuber was famed, the specimens are not numbered and have been chosen for the decorative effect of their translucence when the box is opened, as it has deliberately been left unlined. A box in the Georges Heine Bequest at the Musée du Louvre, Paris, very closely resembles the present box, with the same design of rayed specimens, including the distinctive central ‘starling stone’ panel on the base, coloured-gold mounts and encrusted bouquet of flowers on the oval lid panel within a ring of simulated pearls.
4759PC71/ДПИ