Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Ornamental Onyx Pendant
Johann Melchior Dinglinger German
Not on view
The court jeweler Johann Melchior Dinglinger acquired the slice of onyx at the center of this pendant in the
1720s, when it was the largest known piece of the stone in the world. A type of agate, onyx was rare at the time and regarded as the "king of stones" by princely collectors. Until sources were found in the so-called New World, onyx was mined predominantly in Bohemia. This display piece appealed to the tastes of Augustus the Strong, who was a passionate collector of large and unusual gemstones for his Dresden collection.
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