{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O376942"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O376942/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BD7559/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BD7559/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006BD7559","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2023NN7229","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2023NN7227","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O376942/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O376942","accessionNumber":"4869-1858","objectType":"Cup","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Seventeenth-century artists and collectors regarded the nautilus as one of Nature's masterpieces and as a result nautilus shells were often given elaborate and precious mounts. These mounts often transformed the shell into a decorative cup, which showcased both the pearly beauty of the nautilus and the skill of the goldsmith's art. The shells were imported from Indonesia (Ambon Island) by Dutch traders from 1609 onwards, and therefore Dutch goldsmiths became particularly associated with this type of work in the seventeenth century. This cup was probably intended for display rather than for use, and may have been kept with other elaborately-mounted natural specimens in a special room reserved for the purpose. The kneeling figure carrying a trident, the rim, and the three mounts attached to the rim are all much later replacements.","physicalDescription":"","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2006BD7559","2023NN7229","2023NN7227"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"69","id":"THES49729"},"free":"","case":"4","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"009","id":"THES405659"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"020","id":"THES410297"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"cups","id":"AAT43202"}],[{"text":"Snuffers","id":""}],[{"text":"Fragment","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[],"productionDates":[],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Purchased by the Museum in 1858 for 40 pounds. It was originally dated around 1580.\r\nThe nautilus shell, its outer layers stripped away, was carved by Chinese craftsmen for export to Europe. Such shells were often mounted, as here, and Dutch goldsmiths were particularly associated with this type of work after 1609, when an important source of the shells, the Island of Ambon (Indonesia) became a Dutch trading post. This example has been restored in the nineteenth century: the triton figure, rim- and strap-mounts are replacements.\n\nCitroen, Karel. <u>Dutch Goldsmiths' and Silversmiths' marks and names prior to 1812</u>. Leiden: Primavera Pers, 1993, ISBN  90743100709.\r\nNAL bibliographic number:  NB.94.0050\r\nVoet, Elias. <u>Nederlandse gould- en zilvermerken</u>. 'S-Gravenhage,  Martinus Nijhoff, 1975.\r\nNAL bibliographic number:  111.C.78\r\nWoldbye, V. (transl. P.S. Falla). 'Shells and the Decorative Arts'.  <u>Apollo</u>. Sept. 1984, vol. 120, no. 271. pp. 156-161.\r\nNAL bibliographic number: PP.1.A\r\nHayward, J. F. <u>Virtuoso Goldsmiths and the Triumph of  Mannerism 1540-1620</u>. London: Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1976.\r\nNAL bibliographic number: 210.E.16 and ND.94.0173\r\nSee p. 289.\r\nTait, Hugh. <u>Catalogue of the Waddesdon Bequest in the British  Museum</u>. 3 vols, London: British Museum Press, 1986-1991. vol.  III: <u>The 'Curiosities'</u>. ISBN 0714105252 (vol. 3).\r\nNAL bibliographic number:  NC.92.1366\r\nSee catalogue entry 6, 'The Infant Hercules nautilus-shell  standing-cup', pp. 68-86, which includes a discussion of the  Chinese export trade in carved shells.\r\nSee catalogue entry 7, 'The 'combat of sea-monsters' nautilus- shell standing-cup' for reference to V&amp;A 4869-1858 (p.94).","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Nautilus shell mounted in silver gilt, Dutch (Utrecht), 1613, Nicolaas van der Kemp, with nineteenth-century additions.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["4869:2-1858","4869A-1858","4869:1-1858"],"accessionNumberNum":"4869","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1858,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Snuffers","Fragment","cup"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-09-10","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-24","availableToBook":false}}