Augsburg Art Cabinet
A cabinet full of drawers, natural wonders and mechanisms – a whole world in one piece of furniture.
The city of Augsburg presented the cabinet to Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in 1632. It is filled with instruments, games, toys and natural objects – a cabinet of curiosities in miniature. It stands in the Gustavianum, Uppsala University’s museum.
Materials: Ebony, precious stones, silver, enamel, shells, minerals and paintings
Manufacture: Some thirty craftsmen in Augsburg worked on it for six years, coordinated by an art dealer.
The ebony surfaces set with stones and the many little doors and drawers.
The crown: a mountain of minerals and shells holding a coconut ewer.