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拍品专文
The distinctive combination of carving in relief and engraved details with black ink is found on a number of nautilus cups, most of which are Dutch and from the early to mid 17th century.
This style of decoration is often attributed to the Bellekin (Belquin or Bellekien) family active in the Netherlands from 1597 starting with Jean (until 1636) followed by Jan (1636-circa 1665) and Cornelis until the early 18th century whose work makes up a large portion of the extant work. According to H-U. Mette in der Nautiluspokal, Munich, 1995, of the forty-eight nautilus shells with such decoration, no fewer than twenty-six can be attributed to the Bellekin (p.87).
Their work was acknowledged in the 18th century by the Amsterdam pharmacist and conchologist Albertus Seba (1665-1736) who attributed at least two nautilus shells in his cabinet of natural curiosities to Cornelis Bellekin describing him as 'celebris Artifex C. Bellekin' [Das Naturalienkabinett: Locupletissimi rerum naturalium thesauri 1734-1765].
Cornelis Bellekin's work as on this nautilus, is characterized by the scrolling vine tendrils and leaves carved in the shells and the scattered engraved insects which seem to indicate not only the function of the vessel as a wine drinking cup but also issue a warning against the effects of alcohol.
The design for the insects is after prints by Jacob Hofnagel published in 1592 and D.I. Hofnagel's Diversae Insectarum volatilium icones ad vivum depictae per celeberrimum pictrem in 1630, already used by the forefather of the Bellekin dynasty Jean Bellekin for a cup on auricular base by the Delft maker, Willem Claez Brugman, hallmarked for 1651 (see J.W. Frederiks, Dutch Silver, vol. IV., The Hague, 1961, p. 48, cat. no. 96 and pl. 110 and H-U. Mette, der Nautiluspokal, Munich, 1995, p. 212, cat. no. 125, fig. 202).
Perhaps the two most similar examples to the shell of the present cup is one in Waddesdon with a triton base (acc. No. 312.1997) and one in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam unmounted but signed to the front 'C. Bellekin' (BK-1957-19).
It is interesting to note that the vertical straps on this example partly obscure one of the insects, possibly indicating that the vertical straps on both sides are replaced as is frequently the case with nautilus cups, and also that the foot of the cup is chased with snails similar to the ones engraved on the shell.
This style of decoration is often attributed to the Bellekin (Belquin or Bellekien) family active in the Netherlands from 1597 starting with Jean (until 1636) followed by Jan (1636-circa 1665) and Cornelis until the early 18th century whose work makes up a large portion of the extant work. According to H-U. Mette in der Nautiluspokal, Munich, 1995, of the forty-eight nautilus shells with such decoration, no fewer than twenty-six can be attributed to the Bellekin (p.87).
Their work was acknowledged in the 18th century by the Amsterdam pharmacist and conchologist Albertus Seba (1665-1736) who attributed at least two nautilus shells in his cabinet of natural curiosities to Cornelis Bellekin describing him as 'celebris Artifex C. Bellekin' [Das Naturalienkabinett: Locupletissimi rerum naturalium thesauri 1734-1765].
Cornelis Bellekin's work as on this nautilus, is characterized by the scrolling vine tendrils and leaves carved in the shells and the scattered engraved insects which seem to indicate not only the function of the vessel as a wine drinking cup but also issue a warning against the effects of alcohol.
The design for the insects is after prints by Jacob Hofnagel published in 1592 and D.I. Hofnagel's Diversae Insectarum volatilium icones ad vivum depictae per celeberrimum pictrem in 1630, already used by the forefather of the Bellekin dynasty Jean Bellekin for a cup on auricular base by the Delft maker, Willem Claez Brugman, hallmarked for 1651 (see J.W. Frederiks, Dutch Silver, vol. IV., The Hague, 1961, p. 48, cat. no. 96 and pl. 110 and H-U. Mette, der Nautiluspokal, Munich, 1995, p. 212, cat. no. 125, fig. 202).
Perhaps the two most similar examples to the shell of the present cup is one in Waddesdon with a triton base (acc. No. 312.1997) and one in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam unmounted but signed to the front 'C. Bellekin' (BK-1957-19).
It is interesting to note that the vertical straps on this example partly obscure one of the insects, possibly indicating that the vertical straps on both sides are replaced as is frequently the case with nautilus cups, and also that the foot of the cup is chased with snails similar to the ones engraved on the shell.