The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 30, 2025

Nautilus cup featuring gold detailing of a lion-like head bearing its teeth as it curves in over the cup's opening, a person standing on a sphere on top of its head. The gold details the striated, iridescent nautilus shell, a shell spiraling under lion-like head before curving down and up into an opening rimmed with a pointed, gold edge. A multi-layered, gold, circular base narrows into a neck with serpent-like creatures facing out around it.

Nautilus Cup

1607
maker

Cornelis Jansz van der Burch

(Dutch, active in Delft, d. 1615)
Netherlands, Holland, Delft
Silver-gilt, nautilus shell
Overall: 33.3 x 10.6 x 20.1 cm (13 1/8 x 4 3/16 x 7 15/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2023.154
Location: 213 Dutch Painting

Did You Know?

The nautilus is a marine mollusk that swims by expelling water from its shell using jet propulsion.

Description

Nautilus shells were brought to the Netherlands from Indonesia. Skilled Dutch silversmiths mounted them in silver, creating luxurious vessels that were sought after by wealthy collectors. Early Dutch nautilus cups are mainly associated with the city of Delft, although only a few other examples made in Delft are known from the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. They feature the dramatic motif of a sea monster’s head.
  • c. 1860
    W. von Weckerlin, The Hague, The Netherlands
    Baron James de Rothschild (1792-1868), his wife Betty, and their sons Baron Alphonse and Baron Gustave, Paris, France
    Their descendants
    2023
    Christie's, New York, Rothschild Masterpieces, October 11, 2023, no. 20
    2023-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Kellen, D. van der, Nederlands-oudheden: verzameling van afbeeldingen der voor wetenschap, kunst en nijverheid meest belangrijke voorwerpen uit vroegere tijden ... The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1861. Mentioned: p. 23, illustrated: pl. LI
    Frégnac C., and Andrews, W., The Great Houses of Paris. New York: Vendome Press: Distributed by Viking Press, 1979. Illustrated: p. 80
    Biesboer, P., Delfts zilver: Delftse Goud- en Zilversmeden en hun Merken, 1536-1807. Zwolle: Waanders Uitgevers, 2020. Mentioned: p. 373
    "New on View.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 65, no. 2 (June/July/August 2024): Back cover. Reproduced and Mentioned: Back cover archive.org
  • {{cite web|title=Nautilus Cup|url=false|author=Cornelis Jansz van der Burch|year=1607|access-date=30 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2023.154