Ambre : Trésors De La Mer Baltique Du Xvie Au Xviiie Siècle

Exhibition at the Galerie Kugel, Paris, 18 October - 16 December 2023

Amber is a unique material that has fascinated people since ancient times. Light, aromatic and delicate, with electrical properties, it comes in a range of colours from translucent dark red to opaque white.

From Roman times until the 18th century, scientists were lost in conjecture about its origin; in 1757 the Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonossov discovered that it was a fossilised resin. The pieces in the gallery come from a prehistoric forest under the Baltic Sea, on the southern side, the extraction of which from the 16th century onwards was the starting point of a formidable trade.

This catalogue of the first exhibition dedicated to amber in France brings together some fifty objects collected over nearly twenty years by the Galerie Kugel. Combining sculptures, caskets, goblets and games, the immense variety of pieces presented illustrates the fascination with amber from the 16th to the 18th centuries, and the talent of artists to bring out all the nuances of this extraordinary material. The book is accompanied by a scientific study of amber, its origins and its commercial and artistic uses.