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| Keywords: Dutch - Nautilus Cup - Walters 57989 - Profile.jpg Shells of the pearly chambered nautilus were imported from the Indian and Pacific Oceans as natural marvels because of the lustrous beauty of the shell when polished and its amazing interior structure A luxurious drinking vessel for court feasts this cup underscores the host's magnificence and power over nature Goldsmiths designing the mounts for these shells gave free rein to their imaginations fashioning figures such as Atlas a legendary titan of Greco-Roman mythology who was said to balance the heavens on his back The artist playfully calls attention to the artful contradictions of the piece Although the shell is very light Atlas' muscles are flexed in strain ca 1630 baroque nautilus shell gilded on silver mounts cm 22 1 accession number 57 989 16751 date Caspar Bourgeois and Stephen Bourgeois Cologne purchase Sale Cologne October 19 1904 no 554 date purchase Raoul Heilbronner Paris ProvenanceEvent 1908 purchase Henry Walters Baltimore Walters Art Museum Henry Walters Acquired by Henry Walters 1908 World of Wonder The Walters Art Gallery Baltimore 1971-1972 place of origin Netherlands Walters Art Museum license Baroque art in the Walters Art Museum Art of the Netherlands Nautilus cups Media contributed by the Walters Art Museum needs category review | ||||
