The new exhibition at the galerie Kugel, organized with the Grünes Gewölbe in Dresden and the Frick Collection in New York, is devoted to the work of Johann Christian Neuber (1732-1808), mineralogist and goldsmith at the court of the Elector Frederick Augustus III of Saxony. While Paris was the undisputed capital of taste and fashion in the Age of Enlightenment, in particular for that essential accessory, the snuffbox, Neuber was able to assimilate French esprit and even surpass it in creating his own style and inventions. He was rare among German artists of his time in achieving Europe-wide fame.
Drawing on an established Saxon tradition of working in semi-precious stones, Neuber perfected and developed to its zenith the technique known as Zellenmosaic or cloisonné encrustation, making snuffboxes and galanteries not only refined in their taste but rich in the colours and patterns that only Saxon geology could afford. Alert to the rising taste, among the elite and the nobility of his age, for all 'natural' science and for mineralogy in particular, Neuber invented the Steinkabinettabatiere or snuffbox forming a mineralogical cabinet -miniature masterpieces combining, as he announced in his advertisment for their sale, "luxury, taste and science".
The exhibition presents nearly forty snuffboxes and galanteries from the Grünes Gewölbe, the celebrated 'green vault' in Dresden containing the world's finest collection of treasury art, from the museum of porcelain in Dresden and from a number of private collections. These exquisite works reveal Neuber's ingenuity in the service of beauty and cover all aspects of his production featuring enchanting landscapes, intricate floral designs and complex geometric patterns made out of tiny cut stones.
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