In my post about new amber exhibition in Museum of Amber in Gdansk I mentioned that the whole exhibition was put together thanks to German antiquarian – Georg Laue from Munich. Today I would like to share with you his interview where he speaks about his passion and love for amber.

-It looks like you have become emotionally involved in your work with the Amber Museum...

(GL): That’s right. To tell you the truth, at the beginning of our contacts, when we knew each other only on the phone and by e-mail, we were quite a bit unsure and we secured ourselves with carefully written contracts. By now, we have developed mutual trust and that’s why everything is much easier and much more enjoyable.

-When I read about you, I got the impression that you generally put a lot of emotion into your profession.

(GL): Indeed, I don’t treat my profession as only trading in antiques; I am first and foremost an art historian and a researcher, an art collector and an art lover. If I were only a typical antique dealer, it would probably make no difference to me what I sell and to whom. I meticulously search out the object I purchase, I research the documentation on them. I become emotionally attached to them rather quickly and maybe that’s why it is so hard for me to let go of them; especially since the range of my kunstkammer is very select, which makes it limited. And so it happens that my collector’s heart bleeds, when my antique dealer’s mind tells me to sell, so I can go on to buy new objects. It is easier for me to part with them when I know that they come into good hands. Just as at the Amber Museum, where they will be displayed to a broad public in an attractive milieu as part of a truly intriguing collection.

- Was it really important to you who those objects were sold to?

(GL): Generally, there are not many historical amber objects on the market and the demand for them far outstrips the number of available pieces. I received a number of concurrent purchase offers for this collection; previously I had only sold individual objects to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and to France. However, as for the remaining large part of the collection and the most valuable objects made in Gdansk, West and East Prussia, including a signed amber cabinet, I was keen to have them return to Gdansk, if I were to sell them at all. During a long visit to St Mary’s Church in Gdansk, I realised that the city had a lot of evidence of common history and the merging of two cultures, German and Polish. I’m happy that I was able to help strengthen this tradition. Sometimes, it’s easier for us to come to an agreement thanks to art than it is for politicians.

- The collection which ended up in the Amber Museum in Gdansk, seems to be especially valuable to you...

(GL):My family has been accumulating this collection for three generations. My father was a particular lover of historical amber objects: he continued the family tradition and expanded the already existing collection he had inherited from his wife’s parents. During the Renaissance and Baroque periods, Gdansk, next to Königsberg, was an important centre of amber craftsmanship and that’s why I felt it would be the perfect place to exhibit my family’s amber treasures.

- I’ve heard that amber is your favorite material...

(GL):That’s true. In fact, it’s a family fascination. Part of my family comes from East Prussia and had to flee to the West in 1945. My grandfather would often go to Königsberg for holidays to visit his grandparents. The issue of amber was always present in our family and manifested itself mainly through our interest in the history of amber art and the collecting of objects from that period. I must have inherited this love of amber in my genes, because my dissertation was about amber and amber objects in the kunstkammeras and curio cabinets of the 16th and 17th centuries. Thanks to my specialisation I was invited to be the curator of many museum exhibitions dedicated to this topic, including in the East Prussian Museum in Lüneburg, the Museum of Art in Vienna, the Mining Museum in Bochum and the Mineralogical State Collection in Munich.

- That’s surprising. Especially as amber is generally not very popular in Germany.

(GL): That’s true. However, I’m convinced that one needs to find topics, objects or materials which aren’t very popular and well known. Perhaps the interest is so low because in fact there aren’t many historical objects made of amber. When I was the curator of an amber exhibition in New York, it turned out that a lot of people came who had no idea what amber was. In spite of this – or maybe because of this – the exhibition turned out to be an enormous success. It was a rather unusual exhibition, with contemporary paintings by Siegmar Polke providing an excellent contrast to the Renaissance and Baroque amber objects. Nevertheless, I have the impression that amber has been enjoying a renaissance of its own in recent years; several exhibitions have been held recently, four books on the subject have appeared over the last two years, including the book on the Amber Museum in Gdansk. Compared to the last 20 years, when all that was published was a single catalogue, this is surely a big success.

- Which of the objects from the Amber Museum’s latest collection is the most valuable?

(GL): Definitely the Zernebach. In the whole world there are only five known signed objects with a Gdansk pedigree. The Zernebach was probably a diplomatic gift. You can see a similar cabinet only at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. It makes me all the more happy that it is now part of the collection at the Amber Museum in Gdansk. The other exhibits, although much smaller, are also important and valuable: the flirt game, the coffer and the pipe.

-Is this your first visit to Gdansk?

(GL): No, it’s the fourth time I’ve been here already. That said, I’ll never forget my fist visit to the city, since there was something uniquely magical and romantic to it. I never even knew such a city existed! I felt as if I were in another temporal dimension, a bit like in Venice, especially when taking a walk in the evening. Maybe that’s one of the reasons...