This two-volume catalogue of more than 400 drawings includes depictions of portable Roman, Etruscan and Greek antiquities such as vases, lamps, mirrors, tripods, bells, armour, weights, measures, musical instruments, mirrors, brooches and jewellery, as well as a range of Egyptian and Egyptianising antiquities (from sarcophagi and mummy masks to cult statues and reliefs) and designs for Renaissance and seventeenth-century vases, candelabra, princely gold and silver tableware.

The Arenberg lineage belongs to the high nobility, whose estates, interests and familial connections have traditionally extended across borders. Their princely and ducal standing was equally reflected in the highly superior quality of their art collection, as they commissioned works from contemporaries such as Rubens, Van Dyck, and later Watteau.