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Nautilus Shell Cup
Silversmith: Unidentified
Nautilus shell and silver-gilt; the shell engraved with Chinese scenes and mounted with silver-gilt aquatic emblems.
Nautilus shell and silver-gilt. The shell is engraved with two Chinese scenes on each side of the body, and with ornamental patterns of scalework, diaperwork and brickwork. It has been badly damaged and repaired. The shell is held by four staps; those at the sides are cast as caryatids, whilst the strap at the front is cast as a young warrior, and that at the back as a bearded man. They support the rim mount, which has a cut border, and is applied with winged angels heads, flowers and snails. At the top, over the curve of the shell, is a model of a lobster or crayfish. At the front is a wide everted rim, which is engraved with a border of flowers and scrolling foliage. The shell rests on a calyx with cut border. This is held aloft by a model of Neptune riding a dolphin. The slightly domed over foot is embossed and chased with sea monsters and waves. The foot ring is cast with an egg, tongue and dart border. The wooden box (A) has two hinged half lids and is fitted with cream calf lining.
History note: Listed in Mr Cunliffe's catalogue as being bought at Phillips
L.D. Cunliffe Bequest, 1937
Height: 24.4 cm
Height: 9⅝ in
Length: 19 cm
Length: 7½ in
Width: 10.8 cm
Width: 4¼ in
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1938-02-15) by Cunliffe, Leonard Daneham
16th Century, Late
Elizabeth I
Circa
1585
CE
-
1586
CE
Label text from the exhibition ‘Feast and Fast: The Art of Food in Europe, 1500–1800’, on display at The Fitzwilliam Museum from 26 November 2019 until 31 August 2020:This fantastical nautilus shell cup is a truly global product. It was constructed in Elizabethan London, likely by an Antwerp silversmith, using a south-east Asian shell, engraved in China, mounted in precious silver- gilt fittings. Its stem and foot are shaped as Neptune riding a dolphin writhing in a sea filled with marine life, while a giant crayfish attempts to crawl inside the back of the shell bowl, making the object rather terrifying to pick up, let alone drink from.
The maker's mark of possibly 'TK' conjoined has not been identified. It was previously interpreted as possibly 'TEo' in monogram, for Thomas Heard (see Jacksons, Ian Pickford, p. 98), but further comparison reveals that this is unlikely.
Bowl Of Cup
composed of
nautilus shell
Surface Of Mounts
composed of
gold
Mount
composed of
silver
Inscription present: leopard's head crowned
Inscription present: lion passant
Inscription present: probably TK in monogram
Accession number: M/P.4-1938
Primary reference Number: 118322
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Nautilus Shell Cup" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/118322 Accessed: 2024-04-25 14:08:15
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/118322
|title=Nautilus Shell Cup
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-04-25 14:08:15|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-118322
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa31/M_P_4_1938_1_201312_adn21_mas.jpg"
alt="Nautilus Shell Cup"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Nautilus Shell Cup</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
Accession Number: M/P.4A-1938
Accession Number: MAR.M.71 & A-1912
Accession Number: M.27-1933
Accession Number: C.72 & A-2010
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