Baroque Ambers in Britain

Abstract

A fascination for amber existed in Britain since at least medieval times. It was highly valued and collected, seen as a treasured material, and considered magical. It was fashioned to make religious objects, such as rosaries, before the Reformation. In later centuries, notably the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, works of art made of amber were avidly collected by British connoisseurs, and eventually by museums. My paper focuses on a number of lesser known ambers at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and at other collections in Edinburgh and Liverpool. I will be looking at their individual histories and their importance as works of art. How did the use of amber dictate their forms and decorative elements? Who were their respective owners? The paper discusses the ways in which amber has been viewed and understood, partly in the context of cabinets of curiosities, and partly as a mysterious substance in its own right.