Attributed to Melchior Baumgartner

Attributed to MELCHIOR BAUMGARTNER (1621-1686).
Jewelry chest. Augsburg, 17th century.
Ivory, tortoiseshell, rosewood and brass.
With secret drawer.
It has two undefined marks.
Very good condition.
Museums: Hans Schell Collection, Graz (Austria).
Similar model in the Hermitage Museum - no. 1462.
EU certificate available.
Measurements: 23 x 18 x 15 cm.

Exquisite inlaid jewelry chest showing exceptional craftsmanship. This piece can be related to the small chests created by Melchior Baumgartner such as the one preserved in the Hermitage Museum (number 1462). The refinement achieved coincides with a tradition in the manufacture of this type of jewelry boxes or chests that had Augsburg as the main European center of cabinetmaking. Among the leading Augsburg makers of the second half of the 17th century, Melchior Baumgartner is known to have used all the techniques of goldsmithing, stone carving and inlay to create cabinets and chests of the highest quality: the chest in the Royal Collection signed by Baumgartner and dated 1664, which is part of Charles Clay's organ clock, is an exceptional example.

The jewelry box or casket shown here takes the form of a miniature temple or palatial architecture, with ivory pilasters, arches and moldings, applied together with tortoiseshell sheets that completely cover the piece. The core is made of wood. The hardware and keyhole are of gilded brass. It rises on a skirt trimmed with ivory and ornamented with cabochons. The lid evokes a stepped vault and hides a secret drawer. It is a piece of furniture fully ascribed to the late Baroque in the courtly context of southern Germany.

Melchior Baumgartner was a prominent German cabinetmaker and master craftsman of the 17th century, active in the city of Augsburg, a key center of luxury cabinetmaking in the Baroque period. He belonged to a family of renowned cabinetmakers, being the son and pupil of Ulrich Baumgartner, famous for his cabinets and desks of high artistic value. His work was characterized by the production of luxury furniture, especially jewelry chests, desks and cabinets, decorated with advanced marquetry and inlay techniques. His works were highly valued by European nobility and aristocracy, as they combined functionality with exquisite aesthetic refinement.