The famous jeweler Johann Melchior Dinglinger (1664-1731) was born into a family of ironmongers from the town of Biberach an der Ries (Baden-Württemberg). Johann was sent to study goldsmithing in Ulm, and then worked as an apprentice with jewelers in Augsburg, Nuremberg and Vienna. In 1692, Dinglinger moved to Dresden and became a member of the goldsmiths’ guild.

In his workshop, Johann Dinglinger worked together with his brothers – enameller Georg Friedrich (1666-1720) and Georg Christoph (1668-1746), also a jeweler. His two sons followed in their father’s footsteps and worked in his workshop. After the death of the outstanding master, his son Johann Friedrich Dinglinger (1702-1767) took over the workshop.

In 1698, Dinglinger was appointed court jeweler to the Saxon Elector Augustus II the Strong. Augustus valued beauty, loved music and was an outstanding collector of paintings, patron of artists and jewelers. His name is associated with many cultural undertakings. The collection of paintings of Augustus II became the basis of the famous Dresden Picture Gallery, and the collection of jewelry of the Elector – his Kunstkamera, laid the foundation for the future museum of jewelry art “Green Vault” (Grünes Gewölbe).

In a number of products of the Dinglinger workshop, the sculptural details were made by the outstanding Dresden sculptor and architect Balthasar Permoser. The son of a Bavarian peasant, Permoser learned the craft of a woodcarver and sculptor in Salzburg (Austria), then in Vienna and Italy. And in 1689 he became a court sculptor in Dresden. Here he created his best works and became a teacher of a whole generation of Saxon sculptors. Permoser liked to work in different materials and sizes – from large statues to miniature ivory figurines or terracotta models for silver casting.

The gold coffee service is another unique piece of jewelry art from the Grünes Gewölbe collection by Dinglinger. In December 1701, on behalf of Augustus the Strong, who became King of Poland (1697), he brought the “CoffeZeug” to Warsaw, which cost the treasury 50,000 thalers. The central part of the pyramid-shaped stand is decorated with more than 5,600 diamonds and many precious stones. The service includes 45 Baroque vessels and figures, personifying the four elements: water (Neptune), earth (Ceres), air (Mercury) and fire (Minerva).

The service was one of the first jewelry masterpieces corresponding to the new royal status of Augustus. Dinglinger later created a whole series of ceremonial bowls and goblets with allegories and symbols on this theme. Augustus the Strong received this nickname due to his physical strength and often identified himself with Hercules. Dinglinger embodied this idea in the plot of the ceremonial bowl with the wrestling Hercules.

“The Throne of the Great Mogul Aurengzeb” is one of the most outstanding examples of jewelry art in the late Baroque style and the main work of Johann Melchior Dinglinger. His workshop worked for more than six years to create the scene of a magnificent celebration in honor of the legendary Great Mogul’s birthday. The composition is decorated with 5,223 diamonds, 189 rubies, 175 emeralds, 53 pearls, two cameos and a sapphire (of which 391 precious stones are missing today). This masterpiece cost the Saxon Elector 58,485 Reichsthalers, which at that time was the annual income of a thousand officials. Most of this amount was received from Charles XII as compensation for the occupation of Saxony.

The King of France Louis XIV owned three sets of jewelry, Augustus the Strong planned to order 24 different sets. In the end, ten unique sets were created, which included jewelry for clothes and headdresses, buttons, shoe buckles, canes and weapons. The magnificent swords had a special ceremonial significance. They were not used as weapons, but symbolized the noble origin of the owner.