{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O156611"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O156611/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009CC6490/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009CC6490/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2009CC6490","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London/ © the Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009CC6640","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London/ © the Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009CC6639","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London/ © the Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009CC6554","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London/ © the Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009CC6488","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London/ © the Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009CC6487","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London/ © the Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009CC6486","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London/ © the Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O156611/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O156611","accessionNumber":"LOAN:GILBERT.588-2008","objectType":"Nutmeg grater","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Nutmeg was an expensive spice, used among other things to season the fashionable drink of punch.The use of a shell to catch the nutmeg shavings reinforces the luxury and exoticism of the spice. This species of Cowrie shell is found in the Galapagos Islands and along the west coast of South America.\r\n\r\nOutside the wealthiest court circles, 17th-century silver was used primarily for eating and drinking. The dining table was the heart of social activity, and novelty items were made for fashionable new drinks flavoured with spices and drinking games.  The range of British silver for the home from this period (the first for which a representative quantity survives) demonstrates increasing foreign influences from France, the Netherlands and Portugal. The rising demand for fashionably decorated European silver from the 1660s onwards reflects Britain's new wealth and political stability. \r\n\r\nSir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver,  mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes.  Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.","physicalDescription":"The oval cowrie shell is mounted in silver, with a hinged grater and plain scroll handle.  The shell is held in place by a cruciform cage of silver straps on the upper side; the straps have engailed borders and an escutcheon at the engraved with the initials RB.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"silver","id":"AAT11029"},{"text":"cowrie shell","id":"AAT11834"}],"techniques":[{"text":"engraving (incising)","id":"AAT53829"},{"text":"cutting (dividing)","id":"AAT53069"},{"text":"mounting","id":"AAT81370"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Engraved silver and cowrie shell","categories":[{"text":"Food vessels & Tableware","id":"THES48952"},{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2009CC6490","2009CC6640","2009CC6639","2009CC6554","2009CC6488","2009CC6487","2009CC6486"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"72A","id":"THES413998"},"free":"","case":"CA006","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"nutmeg grater","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"England","id":"x28826"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""},{"place":{"text":"Netherlands","id":"x29020"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1690","earliest":"1685-01-01","latest":"1694-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"9.3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"4.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"3.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"100","unit":"g","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Measured 26/04/24 IW","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"No marks","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""},{"content":"Engraved with the initals RB","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"Provenance: Purchased from S.J.  Schrubsole Corporation, New York, 1980.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Silver and cowrie shell, England or The Netherlands, ca.1690","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Schroder, Timothy. <u>The Gilbert collection of gold and silver</u>. Los Angeles (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) 1988, cat. no. 32, pp. 135-36.  ISBN.0875871445"}],"production":"Engraved with initials RB","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["LOAN:GILBERT.588-2008"],"accessionNumberNum":"588","accessionNumberPrefix":"LOAN:GILBERT","accessionYear":2008,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"Arthur Gilbert Number","id":"THES50383"},"number":"SG 108"},{"type":{"text":"The Gilbert Collection, Somerset House","id":"THES50384"},"number":"1996.665"},{"type":{"text":"Arthur Gilbert Number","id":"THES50383"},"number":"GB 215"},{"type":{"text":"The Gilbert Collection, Somerset House","id":"THES50384"},"number":"1998.17"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2018LC1759","2019LR0570","2019LU1783","2019LW7942"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-05-18","recordCreationDate":"2008-06-19","availableToBook":false}}