We were so impressed and enthusiastic about this restorative, artistic and analytical challenge that a new idea was born in the process: we wanted to create a decorative egg, closely imitating the designs, materials and color-schemes of the famed jewel chamber.

Gold and pigments

The “Jewel Chamber-Egg” is carved out of lime wood – the very same wood used in all carpentered components of the jewel chamber. The red lacquer coating, having been varnished in numerous layers, is identical to the carmine lacquer surfaces of the wall moldings, mirror surfaces and ceiling paintings in the jewel chamber. The paint is made of precisely the same, historically documented pigments and binders that were used in the reconstruction of the jewel chamber’s luxurious décor: carmine red and alizarin madder lake pigments, linseed oil, dammar and mastic resin. We cited elements of the jewel chamber’s numerous and varied ornamental forms – so very typical for the Baroque – in the egg’s own gilded ornamentation. The striking, red-gold contrast, a very dominant factor in the jewel chamber’s own color scheme, was accomplished by applying real gold leaf. The contours brushed upon the golden ribbons, lattices and acanthus leaves were applied using a reddish-brown paint made of resin and oil, causing the illusive effect of a raised surface, which had been so very important to courtly artists of the Baroque. Presenting this artistically formed and highly decorative egg in a specially designed, miniature display cabinet makes it a truly lasting and tangible memento of a visit to the Jewel Chamber in the “Green Vault” of Dresden…