Nautilus shell box

Unknown

1619/20, with later restorations · Nautilus shell, silver · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

The fashion for nautilus cups as table decorations originated in the Low Countries, and impresses us as a typical choice for a seafaring nation. Most of the shells came from distant oceans, and their silver or silver-gilt mounts retained the flavor of the sea by featuring marine motifs. From the Low Countries the fashion for these cups spread to Germany and to England. In England they remained rare, however, and so far as we know this is the only English nautilus cup of the period.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1619/20, with later restorations

Medium

Nautilus shell, silver

Culture

British, London

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1968