Johann Melchior Dinglinger (26 December 1664 –6 March 1731) was one of Europe's greatest

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), plat ...

s, whose major works for the elector of Saxony,

Augustus the Strong Augustus II the Strong (12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733), was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1697 to 1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733. He belonged to the Albertine branch of the ...

, survived in the Grünes Gewölbe (the "Green Vaults"),

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. Dinglinger was the last goldsmith to work on the grand scale of

Benvenuto Cellini Benvenuto Cellini (, ; 3 November 150013 February 1571) was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, and author. His best-known extant works include the ''Cellini Salt Cellar'', the sculpture of ''Perseus with the Head of Medusa'', and his autobiography ...

and Wenzel Jamnitzer, fewer of whose large-scale works in precious materials have survived, however. His work carries on in a

Mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

tradition into the " Age of Rococo".

Biography

Dinglinger was born in

Biberach an der Riß Biberach an der Riß (, ; ), often referred to as simply Biberach (), is a town in southern Germany. It is the capital of Biberach (district), Biberach district, in the Upper Swabia region of the German state (Lands of Germany, Land) of Baden-Wü ...

(today in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

). He served his apprenticeship in Ulm, after which he refined his techniques working as a

journeyman A journeyman is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that field as a fully qualified employee ...

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, three traditional centers of luxury arts. He went to Dresden in 1692, where he spent the rest of his career in the service of Augustus, by whom he was appointed court jeweller in 1698. In the workshop he established, he was assisted by his younger brothers, the enameller Georg Friedrich Dinglinger (1666–1720) and Georg Christoph Dinglinger (1668–1728), who specialized in cutting and setting jewels. The sculptor

Balthasar Permoser Balthasar Permoser (13 August 1651 – 18 February 1732) was among the leading sculptors of his generation, whose evolving working styles spanned the late Baroque and early Rococo. Biography Permoser was born in Kammer bei Waging, Salzburg, t ...

collaborated as a modeller in Dinglinger's workshops. Dinglinger's sister

Sophie Sophie is a feminine given name, another version of Sophia, from the Greek word for "wisdom". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Soph ...

was also an artist. Dinglinger married five times and had twenty-three children, of whom eleven survived to maturity. The famous house he erected in Dresden was burned in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. He died in

Works

Dinglinger's major works, all for Augustus: *1697–1701 The ''Golden Coffee Service'', which presents the cups and saucers and sugar bowls on an elaborate pyramidal etagère surmounted by the coffeepot, all in enamelled gold, a ''kabinettstuck'' unique in Europe. Augustus took the recently completed ensemble with him to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

at Christmas 1701, to dazzle the nobles of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

of which he was the nominal ruler. *''The Birthday of the Grand Mughal

Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...

'', now on display in Dresden's Green Vault, with 137 modelled enamelled and jewel-encrusted figures of men and animals, which Dinglinger commenced without a specific commission, and sold to the delighted Elector for a spectacular 55,485 thaler. The invasion of Saxony by

Charles XII of Sweden Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII () or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.), was King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of ...

made payments difficult and the greater part of the vast sum was owing until 1713. *1704 ''Dianabad'' (The "Bath of Diana"), in which a

chalcedony Chalcedony ( or ) is a cryptocrystalline form of silica, composed of very fine intergrowths of quartz and moganite. These are both silica minerals, but they differ in that quartz has a trigonal crystal structure, while moganite is monoclinic ...

bowl in a filigree is supported between the horns of a stag's head. *1722 ''Obeliscus Augustalis'' *''Altar of Apis'', an unusual example, for its generation, of Egyptianizing taste *before 1722 ''Pair of agate standing cups'' celebrating the election of Augustus as King of Poland, mounted in gold, enamel, parcel gilt silver, and semi-precious stonesOne is now in the

Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum is a public art museum located in the Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. Founded and opened in 1934, it holds collections from the mid-19th century that were amassed substantially ...

, Baltimore (see ref. Walters) These cups were exhibited when the Grünes Gewölbe were opened to public viewing in 1722.

References

*E. von Watzdorf, 1962. ''Johann Melchior Dinglinger'' (Berlin)
Johann Melchior Dinglinger on-lineWalters Art Museum: a cup by Dinglinger

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dinglinger, Johann Melchior 1664 births 1731 deaths People from Biberach an der Riss German artists German goldsmiths 17th-century German artisans