Nautilus Cup

Shells of the pearly chambered nautilus were imported from the Indian and Pacific Oceans as natural marvels because of the lustrous beauty of the shell when polished and its amazing interior structure.

A luxurious drinking vessel for court feasts, this cup underscores the host's magnificence and power over nature. Goldsmiths designing the mounts for these shells gave free rein to their imaginations, fashioning figures such as Atlas, a legendary titan of Greco-Roman mythology, who was said to balance the heavens on his back. The artist playfully calls attention to the artful contradictions of the piece. Although the shell is very light, Atlas' muscles are flexed in strain.the graceful curved mount on the two sides of the shell is characteristic of goldsmiths in the province of Holland in the decade around 1600.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Caspar Bourgeois and Stephen Bourgeois, Cologne, by purchase; Sale, Cologne, October 19, 1904, no. 554; Raoul Heilbronner, Paris [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1908, by purchase, Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.