Etui van goud, versierd met honderd verschillende stenen, een staalkaart van Saksische gesteenten c. 1770

Curator: Here we have a truly unique piece: An etui, or case, crafted around 1770 by Johann Christian Neuber. It is made of gold and adorned with, incredibly, one hundred different stones! The official title even specifies them as a “sampler of Saxon stones.” Editor: Wow, what an astonishing surface! At first glance, it feels like a flattened jewel-toned chocolate box. A mosaic of natural wonders contained in shimmering gold. The individual stones, their subtle variations in color and pattern… It is captivating. Curator: Absolutely! Think about the labor involved. Each stone would have been individually selected, cut, polished, and then painstakingly set into the gold framework. Editor: A marvel of conspicuous consumption. To collect this variety of materials – sourcing the gold, the stones themselves - bespeaks considerable resources and access to skilled labor. Curator: Precisely. It’s more than just decoration; this case tells a story about wealth and a particular kind of scientific or, perhaps more accurately, quasi-scientific, aristocratic interest in geology that flourished in that era. Editor: You mentioned its intended use? Etui, like for holding small personal items? Seems quite the statement piece to pull out in social company. Curator: Exactly. While small functional, yes, it communicated much larger things – a patron's refined tastes, wealth, and intellectual curiosity. This piece is practically an encyclopedia, offering a survey of Saxony’s geological treasures within the gilded frame of Rococo artistry. Each stone, in its unique pattern and color, becomes a symbol. Editor: I'm just imagining the wear and tear this object faced; was it handled delicately, I wonder? Are any of the materials fragile, compared to each other? Curator: A wonderful thing to ponder on – that physical legacy of touching, using, caring for this piece – across hundreds of years! Editor: Indeed! This etui allows us to touch base not only with an aesthetic moment in time, but it makes you feel its textures and ponder on where these things originated from – material and metaphorical both!