(b Biberbach, Dec 26, 1664; d Dresden, March 6, 1731).
German goldsmith and jeweller. He was one of the most famous goldsmiths of his time, and almost all his works are in the Grünes Gewölbe, Dresden. After his training in Ulm he travelled as a journeyman to Augsburg, Nuremberg and Vienna. He is first recorded in Dresden in 1692. His two brothers, the enameller Georg Friedrich Dinglinger (1666–1720) and the jeweller Georg Christoph Dinglinger (1668–1728), are documented as active there in 1693; they remained his closest collaborators, particularly Georg Friedrich.
From the beginning of his career, Johann Melchior Dinglinger worked for Frederick-Augustus I of Saxony, even before the latter became Elector in 1694. The jewellery produced for Frederick-Augustus’s coronation as King Augustus II of Poland (also known as Augustus the Strong) in 1697 was Dinglinger’s first important commission. In 1698 he was appointed Court Jeweller, and all his projects were personally supervised by the King. In the late 17th century and early 18th Dinglinger probably produced most of the jewellery for the court: almost all the orders of chivalry and military decorations came from his workshop, including those in emeralds and diamonds for the revived Polish Order of the Knights of the White Eagle. Various designs for banquets for the King are also kept in the Grünes Gewölbe....
