Christian Engelbrecht, engraver

Gems, pearls, and unusual floral forms inspired these jewelry designs by Friedrich Jakob Morisson, who worked in Vienna and Augsburg. The abundance of precious stones speaks of the taste for extravagant ornamentation. The title page, decorated with a bejeweled black man’s head and strings of pearls (which at the time mostly came from India, the Persian Gulf, and the Caribbean) emphasizes the exotic appeal of these designs. During this era, the conquest of the Americas and expanding trading routes to the East made gold, silver, and gems more readily available in Europe than ever before. Morisson engaged engravers to broadcast his designs, which were admired by art lovers and used as patterns by other goldsmiths and metalworkers.