A gold and hardstone 'Steinkabinett' box, Johann Christian Neuber, Dresden, circa 1785

Alexis Kugel, Gold, Jasper and Carnelian, Johann Christian Neuber at the Saxon Court, London, 2012, p. 368, no. 184.

Johann Christian Neuber (1736–1808), court jeweller in Dresden, is well-known for creating objects of vertu that combined locally mined hardstones with delicate goldwork. One of his specialities was the so-called Steinkabinett-Tabatiere - as seen in the present lot - incorporating gold mounts engraved with small numbers corresponding to entries in an accompanying booklet, allowing for the identification of each hardstone specimen.

In 1752, Neuber was apprenticed to Johann Friedrich Trechaon, a goldsmith of Swedish origin. In 1762 he became master goldsmith and Bürger of Dresden, succeeding Heinrich Taddel as director of the Grünes Gewölbe, and before 1775 he also was appointed Hofjuwelier. It was from Taddel, his father-in-law and mentor, that Neuber acquired his knowledge of hardstones and how to work them. Not only became Neuber a visionary genius in terms of the aesthetics of these gold boxes and other objects of vertu, but he also had a strong scientific interest.

Both lapidary and amateur scientist, Neuber had even rented several quarries in Saxony to pursue his fascination for the hardstones found in local mines, which had been of economic importance to Saxony since the beginning of the eighteenth century. For many of his precious boxes, Neuber used a broad variety of locally-mined stones, such as agate from Schlottwitz, sometimes combining these with more exotic hardstones such as Egyptian porphyry or lapis lazuli.

Although commissioned to produce the occasional large-scale work such as a table inlaid with 128 hardstones given by the Elector of Saxony to the baron de Breteuil in 1780 to celebrate the peace of Teschen (now in the Musée du Louvre, OA 12547), Neuber specialised in a wide range of small-scale objects, including snuff boxes, carnets de bal, cane handles, watch cases, chatelaines, and jewellery such as bracelets and rings. His distinctive style was popular both at court and with the many visitors who came to Dresden as it rebuilt itself after the Seven Years’ War (1756-63).

The great majority of precious objects from the Neuber workshops, such as the present box, are unsigned and unmarked, but are recognisable from the incomparable art seen in both choosing the stones and in their application. Alexis Kugel includes the present box in the last, more neoclassical, group of gold boxes by Neuber, made with specimens arranged in straight rays of hardstone between 1785 and the end of his career in 1794/95 (Alexis Kugel, Gold, Jasper and Carnelian, Johann Christian Neuber at the Saxon Court, London, 2012, p. 196). Unlike Neuber’s work from the preceding decade, the semi-translucent hardstone panels are relatively big, allowing them to display different colours, structures or inclusions within the stone and let the light through like a stained glass window.

For a very similar Steinkabinett box of the same period, decorated with a shell cameo representing The Toilet of Venus, see Sotheby’s London, 6 July 2021, lot 22.