Silver and gold

An exhibition held at the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Munich in 1994 gathered together for the first time masterpieces of the Augsburg goldsmith's and silversmith's art that had been created for numerous princely and royal courts throughout Europe. Objects now scattered among major museums in Moscow, St Petersburg, Copenhagen, Berlin, Dresden and Vienna were reunited in a display that drew ecstatic responses from public and critics alike. This book provides a photographic documentation of pieces shown in the exhibition, including several details that reveal their superlative quality. The items included in this feast for the eye range from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, from extravagant late Renaissance table automata and magnificent Baroque display buffets to elegant Rococo toilet sets. The introductory essay traces the development of the goldsmith's and silversmith's craft in Augsburg, and places the illustrated works in their stylistic and historical contexts.