Artwork Page for Nautilus Cup

Details / Information for Nautilus Cup

Nautilus Cup

1607
maker

Cornelis Jansz van der Burch

(Dutch, active in Delft, d. 1615)
Culture
Netherlands, Holland, Delft
Medium
Silver-gilt, nautilus shell
Measurements
Overall: 33.3 x 10.6 x 20.1 cm (13 1/8 x 4 3/16 x 7 15/16 in.)
Weight: .74 kg
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2023.154
Public Domain
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Location
213 Dutch Painting
Print
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Did You Know?

The nautilus is a marine mollusk that swims by expelling water from its shell using jet propulsion.

Description

Nautilus shells were brought to the Netherlands from Indonesia. Skilled Dutch silversmiths mounted them in silver, creating luxurious vessels that were sought after by wealthy collectors. Early Dutch nautilus cups are mainly associated with the city of Delft, although only a few other examples made in Delft are known from the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. They feature the dramatic motif of a sea monster’s head.
A nautilus shell cup features a gold lionlike head baring its teeth as it curves in over the cup's opening, a person standing on a sphere on top of its head. The gold details the striated, iridescent nautilus shell, a shell spiraling under the lionlike head before curving down and up into an opening rimmed with a pointed, gold edge. A multilayered gold, circular base narrows into a neck with serpentlike creatures around it, facing out.

Nautilus Cup

1607

Cornelis Jansz van der Burch

(Dutch, active in Delft, d. 1615)
Netherlands, Holland, Delft

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