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Buckle, Johann Christian Neuber, c.1780

Gold and Specimen Hardstones

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A yellow gold buckle, inlaid with floral hardstone motifs, within red and white circular stone borders.

Saxony, circa 1780

Provenance

Neuber is one of Saxony’s most celebrated goldsmiths, he specialised in  hard stone boxes, chatelaines and watchcases decorated with local stone, such as agate, jasper, and carnelian, fashioning enchanting landscapes, elaborate floral designs, and complex geometric patterns with tiny pieces of cut and polished stones set in gold-framed cells, a technique known as Zellenmosaik (cell mosaic).

Neuber first practised in the workshop of Heinrich Taddel, his father-in-law, who was also the director of the Grünes Gewölbe; a position taken over by Neuber in 1769. Neuber then became court jeweller in 1775.