Mounted nautilus shell drinking cup
On display
Mounted nautilus shell, cut, polished and painted with horseman and plant sprays. The shell is mounted in silver-gilt, formed as a sharp-toothed sea monster, on which rides Neptune with his trident. The hinged side straps are formed as climbing lizards, each one with his tail round the head of the one below. The foot is formed as four-clawed bird's foot.
Details
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Title
Mounted nautilus shell drinking cup
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Associated place
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Date
c. 1580 -
Material and technique
nautilus-shell, silver-gilt mounts; painted
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Object type
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Dimensions
32.8 cm (height) -
No. of items
1
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Credit line
Bequeathed by Michael Wellby, 2012.
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Museum location
Second floor | Gallery 53 | European Goldsmiths' Work -
Museum department
Western Art
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Accession no.
WA2013.1.194
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Further reading
Tait, Hugh, Catalogue of the Waddeston Bequest in the British Museum: III. The Curiosities (London, British Museum Publications Ltd, 1991), 6
Wilson, Timothy, Winterbottom, Matthew, Treasures of the Goldsmith's Art: The Michael Wellby Bequest to the Ashmolean Museum (Ashmolean Museum University of Oxford, 2015)
