Piece of jewelery in palmette form (brilliant set). Pallard, Jean Jacques (1701-1776) (goldsmith), Geneva / Vienna, 1746

26 décembre 2017

Piece of jewelery in palmette form (brilliant set). Pallard, Jean Jacques (1701-1776) (goldsmith), Geneva / Vienna, 1746

Piece of jewelery in palmette form (brilliant set). Pallard, Jean Jacques (1701-1776) (goldsmith), Geneva / Vienna, 1746. 83 brilliants, gold, silver, brass, steel; 5.7 x 4.5 cm. Green Vault, VIII 22 © Dresden State Art Collections

The palmette-like jewel of the brilliant set has lost its true function for over two hundred and thirty years. It originally served as the coulant of a Golden Fleece Order - the slider through which the ribbon was drawn to carry the Order around the neck. This order was completed in 1746 by the Swiss jeweler Jean Jacques Pallard. Thus, the "Dresden Green" diamond, with 160 Grän or 41 ct the most precious gem of the Green Vault, received its grandiose setting. The diamond was purchased in 1742 with the help of an English dealer at the Leipzig Easter Fair. The circumstances and the purchase price are unknown. The Prussian King Frederick II, however, in a letter handed down that August III. therefore had no suitable artillery available at the Siege of Brno in 1742, because he had previously acquired for 400,000 Taler a large green diamond. Johann Friedrich Dinglinger was the first to be commissioned to insert the precious gemstone into a non-woven fabric. Since the necessary ram's fur could not be recreated due to lack of time, he put that of the Toison with the cat's eye (VIII 3) in his creation. But Dinglinger's Order existed only four years. When the royal couple fled to Imperial Prague on December 1, 1745, before the advancing Prussian troops, they took along not only the most valuable jewelery sets, but also all the fleece orders. When the king returned in January of the following year, the Vliesorden was already broken and Jean Jacques Pallard created in Vienna a new gem, which was inventoried in 1746. But already in 1769 it was destroyed again.