Mastery of Design: The Lang Quartz and Jewels Box, 1770

The Victoria & Albert Museum

This magnificent quartz box for holding sweetmeats is mounted in engraved and chased gold and encrusted with stones carved in the form of a woman, birds, flowers and insects. Made in Augsburg, c. 1770, this is the work of the jeweler Heinrich Gottlob Lang who managed to incorporate a host of gorgeous colored stones into his design. The stones, carved and faceted, include: sapphire, pink tourmaline, white opals, garnets, marcasite, lapis lazuli, bowenite, malachite, turquoise, jasper, agate, and chalcedony.