Shell Cup

Accession Number
2008/1.164

Title
Shell Cup

Artist(s)
Oswalt Haussner

Object Creation Date
circa 1640

Medium & Support
silver

Dimensions
12 3/8 in. x 5 5/16 in. x 3 15/16 in. ( 31.5 cm x 13.5 cm x 10 cm )

Credit Line
Museum purchase in honor of Professor Marvin Eisenberg, made possible by the W. Hawkins Ferry Fund

Label copy
March 28, 2009
This elaborate piece imitates a nautilus cup, a type of vessel popular in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that featured a nautilus shell set in a decorative mount. Along with coconut and ostrich-egg cups, the nautilus cup’s combination of exotic natural object with human artistry was characteristic of the European elite collections known as Wunderkammer or Kunstkammer, which assembled various natural and man-made wonders. Here, the cup is surmounted by the goddess Fortuna with a billowing sail, a nautical image that resonates with the seashell form on which she stands. Her presence perhaps signaled the favor of wealth she had bestowed upon the owner of this elegant display piece. But the full sail might have also cautioned the owner to remember how quickly fortune could change, like the fickle, shifting winds.

Primary Object Classification
Metalwork

Primary Object Type
cup

Collection Area
Western

Rights
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1 Related Resource

Early Modern European Objects
(Part of 2 Learning Collections)

& Author Notes

All Rights Reserved

On display

UMMA Gallery Location ➜ AMH, 1st floor ➜ 102 (Richard and Rosann Noel Gallery)