Vase, nautilus shells and gilded silver, Dutch (probably Amsterdam), after 1652, unmarked

Two-handled vase on a low foot made of two pearly nautilus shells set in silver gilt mounts and joined vertically at their aperture. The handles in the form of curved dragons, the two gilded silver straps securing the two nautilus shells together at the centre of the vase are in the form of caryatids (a female figure used as a column to support other architectural elements in a building). One gazes down, her hands behind her back, the other bends her head and covers her face with her hands.

The unknown maker of this vase was probably based in Amsterdam, as the design of the two caryatid mounts copies the form of caryatids in the vierschaar ('court') of Amsterdam New Town Hall. The authorities had paid for the first marble sculptures in the vierschaar by April 1652, and the vase is probably later than this (Fremantle, 1959, p.80. The particular choice of design for the mounts suggests it was commissioned by the town council as a commemorative piece, or for presentation. Nothing is known of its owners. It was purchased by the Museum in 1853, when it was identified as 'Dutch. 17th centy' (see Art Inventory [...] 1853, p. 83. A note in the margin of the Metalwork section copy of this book changes the attribution to 'About 1700').

It is rare to be able to trace a goldsmith's inspiration for his work so precisely, although it is not possible to know whether he copied the caryatids directly from the architecture or from a published source. Nautilus shells were imported into the Netherlands in increasing quantities as the seventeenth-century progressed, because an important source of the shells, the Island of Ambon (Indonesia) became a Dutch trading post in 1609. Despite this, they were still prized examples of objects from the natural world and individual shells were often set in elaborate mounts of precious metal. This vase is a rare instance of two shells mounted together. An example of two scallop shells used to define the body of a lidded tankard appears in a painting of around 1665 by an unknown Dutch artist. The painting, 'The Paston Treasure', is a record of the possessions of the Paston family (Norfolk, Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery).

This was one of what was almost certainly originally a set of four vases with mounts that reproduced the four caryatids in the Amsterdam New Town Hall vierschaar. The possibility is strengthened by the number '3' engraved on the underside of the V&A example. The rare and precious materials used for the vase point primarily to the piece as an object for display: the join between the two shells is not sealed. The caryatid motifs are taken from the decoration of the vierschaar, a separate building by the New Town Hall complex that was used exclusively to sentence criminals to death (see Fremantle, 1959, p. 21 and Karel Citroen, in an undated letter addressed to Philippa Glanville, in Metalwork Section object file). The decorative scheme of the vierschaar had been carefully planned to convey exemplary messages of justice and punishment. The significance of the Amsterdam caryatids lies a passage in the Ten Books on Architecture (20 - 30 BCE) by the Roman writer Vitruvius. Vitruvius explains how Greek architects incorporated caryatids depicting women shouldering burdens in their public buildings, in order to advertise the treachery of the inhabitants of Caria (a state in the Peloponnese) (Fremantle, 1959, pp. 80-81). The use of this particular motif on the vase suggests it was commissioned by the town council.

The female figures designed as mounts on this rare vase of nautilus shells are inspired by elements of architecture in the New Town Hall of Amsterdam. The mounts copy two caryatids (female figures) from the vierschaar ('court') building. This particular choice of design for the mounts suggests it was commissioned by the town council as a commemorative piece, or for presentation. Although the chambers of the shells have been removed and the vase is hollow, it was probably intended for display rather than for use.

395-1853