GOING FOR GOLD Craftsmanship and Collecting of Gold Boxes

This book examines the art of the gold box in 18th and 19th century Europe. Distinguished international scholars explore the contributions made by individual workshops in major European centres of production in the context of contemporary patronage and the international market for such boxes. Consideration is given to the design of gold boxes with reference to the V&A's important collection of design drawings. Leading experts explore the ways in which different techniques of gold box decoration -- portrait miniatures, gems, enamels, mosaics and hard-stones -- were developed. Contributors to the volume include experts from Amsterdam, Berlin, Dresden, London, Munich, New York, Paris, Rome, and St Petersburg. Senior museum curators, auction house specialists and independent scholars illustrate and discuss examples from private and public collections in their cities and elsewhere. The result is a unique record of the state of knowledge on the European production of gold boxes and of the history of collecting. This book will appeal to international collectors, scholars, dealers, museum curators and museum visitors, and all those interested in gold and silver fine art.

Dr Tessa Murdoch is Deputy Keeper of the Sculpture, Ceramics, Metalwork and Glass Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and recently curated the exhibition Treasures of the Royal Courts: Tudors, Stuarts and the Russian Tsars.

Dr Heike Zech is curator of the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.