Amber Sculpture of an Eagle, North-East German, Königsberg, 18th century. Opaque amber, silver mount. Height 11 cm. Height with base 15 cm. © Kuntskammer Georg Laue at TEFAF Maastricht 2025

This remarkably large amber piece is carved to fit an 18th-century parade sword as a handle. Without doubt, the magnificent weapon was originally made for a German aristocrat who chose to represent his superior social position by displaying a popular insignia of power upon it: the eagle. Indeed, the sword’s handle shows the head of an eagle with the beak slightly open as if it were in the act of taking off. The bird’s feathers are carved with the utmost precision. The sculpture’s quality is remarkable, especially since amber is one of the most difficult materials to work with.

Amber was often collected in the early modern age, especially in the Königsberg region, and recovered from the sea at great personal risk by intrepid amber fishermen. Large pieces of Baltic amber were transformed in Königsberg into art works that were so precious and expensive that the Electors of Brandenburg often used them as diplomatic presents. Unsurprisingly, the most important Renaissance and Baroque art works made of amber are still held by public collections of princely origin, for instance, the Green Vault in Dresden @skd.museum, the Treasury of the Grand Dukes in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence @uffizigalleries and the Royal Treasury at Rosenborg Palace in Copenhagen Rosenborg Castle.

Amber sculptures of this quality are very rare. A comparable sword handle can be found in the collections of the Amber Museum in Kaliningrad (former Königsberg). Further swords and hunting knifes from the 18th century that are fitted with amber handles are on display at the Armoury of the Saxon Electors in Dresden, testifying from the popularity of this kind of weapons as collection objects.

Published in: Tomasi, S.: La Parola agli Antiquari. Mr. Meraviglia, in: Antiquariato, October 2014, no. 402, p. 111; Art of the Curious, exhibition at Colnaghi, London/Munich 2013, fig. 5 & 16, Cat. No. 5