Nautilus cup
The nautilus cup (nautilus vessel) is the name of a pompous vessel from the Renaissance and Baroque periods , made from the bowl of the nautilus , which is artfully set in precious metal, usually gold-plated silver or gold.
history
The first nautilus shells, probably from the Yellow Sea region and belonging to the species Nautilus pompilius , were collected in late medieval curio cabinets. The earliest assembled nautilus bowls are the “nefs”, simple containers in the shape of a boat for the prince's cutlery or napkin. The sculptor and architect Cornelis Floris then set the tone with a "series of vases" (1548) in Antwerp, in which he combined nautilus bowls with animal and human figures to create adventurously fantastic ornaments. Antwerp was a center of goldsmithing at that time and its goldsmiths gratefully accepted the suggestions. After 1600, more and more nautilus shells came to Europe in Dutch merchant ships. Some of them were even decorated by Chinese artists. The design of the bowls soon became extremely fine. The Bellekin family in Amsterdam made a special contribution , first Jerimie B., then his son Jean and finally the brother of the latter, Cornelis, who became most famous. A nautilus cup also often appears in the still life painting of this period. The nautilus bowl, still beautiful as a dead bowl, became a widespread symbol of the vanitas philosophy ("Everything is vain, everything is void").
shape
The foot of the nautilus shell is often in the form of a Meernixe or naiad on a dolphin shaped riding, sometimes the nautilus shell is also held by a Triton. The edge of the nautilus shell is usually secured against splintering by precious metal. To crown the bowl, the nautilus goblets usually have another mythological figure attached, such as the god Neptune . In the case of simple historical vessels, the bowl of the nautilus is unworked, but mostly the bowl is ground to expose the prism layer underneath the periostracum of the bowl and underneath that of the iridescent mother-of-pearl . The different colors of the layers could be used by skillful relief work. Very often the bowls have a fine relief-like design with scenes from Greek or Roman mythology, occasionally ship maps or other representations are shown. The vertebrae of the animal could often be designed as a helmet visor.
Nautilus cups were valuable collector's items in the chambers of art and curiosities and combined the contrasting elements of the exotic natural form (naturalia) with those of the artistic form (artificialia, artefacta).
Original historical nautilus cups are a special rarity in their artistic design. Nautilus goblets were primarily on display, but on special occasions they could also be used as representative drinking vessels.
Nautilus cup on a still life by Pieter Claesz
Still life by Willem Kalf ; Nautilus cup set in gold with mythological figures
Nautilus cup on a Reichspost stamp
Nautilus Cup, donation from Lorenz Spengler , (Treasury Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen)
literature
- Hanns-Ulrich Mette: The Nautilus Cup - How art and nature play together. Dissertation University of Kiel 1991. Klinkhardt & Biermann, Munich-Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-7814-0328-9 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Marcin Latka. Abbot Kęsowski's cup. artinpl, accessed on July 25, 2019 .
- ↑ Hans Ulrich Mette: The Nautilus Cup. Klinkhardt & Biermann, Munich-Berlin 1995, p. 146/147: Welcome drink from the Nautilus Cup, a custom practiced as early as 1648 on the occasion of the Peace of Westphalia, repeated in 1990 for Foreign Ministers Shevardnadse and Genscher in the town hall of Münster.