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Book Presentation

Five Generations of Gemstone Animals from Idar-Oberstein

240 pages, 22 x 29 cm, 200 images in colour, hardcover with wraparound, English

ISBN: 978-3-89790-507-8 | available, 48,00€ *

* incl. 7% MwSt. | shipping cost


Engravers Gerd and Patrick Dreher are famous the world over for their masterly animal figures cut from a single gemstone. In the early twentieth century, grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather all cut gemstones for Fabergé – mostly agate but also ruby, obsidian, aquamarine, citrine and rock crystal. Today they are still being meticulously made by hand using traditional techniques. The realistic miniature forms of mice, snails, toads, monkeys and hippos are designed by the two artists in multilayered and coloured gemstones so that, for example, the faces, palms of the hand or soles of the feet shine in an iridescent red-brown agate while the bodies are worked in the glossy deep black part of the stone. These unique engravings are today some of the rarest examples of the highest quality in craftsmanship and represent fascination of the highest cultural degree in a world of increasing globalisation.

Some more contributions by: Anton Ananiev, Gerd Dreher, Galina Gabriel, Oleg Gerdt, Alan Hart, Mikhail Ovchinnikov, Raquel Alonso-Perez and Robert Weldon.