Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Coconut Cup with Old Testament Scenes
(Renaissance Europe )
Objects of curiosity, coconuts from Africa or the East Indies were often turned into cups with silver mounts. The inscription in Dutch, "Drunkenness is the root of all evil," accompanies Old Testament scenes of Susanna threatened by the Elders, Delilah cutting Samson's hair, and Lot with his daughters, all involving succumbing to temptation. Other inscriptions announce that Cornelis de Bye carved the coconut and that his daughter Nelltgen had it mounted to commemorate his death, adding a further rhyme celebrating the bee's (Bye's) creation of pure honey through the love of God.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
George Robinson Harding, London [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 1971-1972 | World of Wonder. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Geographies
Netherlands (Place of Origin)
Measurements
6 3/4 in. (17.1 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters
Location in Museum
Charles Street: Second Floor: 17th-Century Dutch Cabinet Rooms
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
57.1046