One of the featured objects in a wonderful exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2019-20 was this amber casket. The exhibit was entitled “Making Marvels: Science and Splendor at the Courts of Europe”.

The casket was made around 1680 in Gdansk, which became renowned for its production of amber objects. Amber, fossilized prehistoric tree sap from the depths of the Baltic Sea was prized not only for its warm glow, but also for its supposed healing properties. What contents would be worthy of such a splendid container?