Vasum ceramicum, from: Shells

Around the time Hollar began to work on a series of 39 etchings of different shells, the were just becoming desirable as collector's items. Sourced mainly from to the Indo-Pacific region, these exotic shells were being imported to Europe by explores and traders returning from the 'Indies' as precious additions to cabinets of curiosities or Wunderkammern in the palaces of aristocrats and rich merchants. They were appreciated for their beauty and variety as well as their supposed allegorical value, as their frail and lifeless aspect fitted the concept of 'vanitas'. Unsurprisingly, they were gradually added as elements of still life paintings. It has been suggested that the specimen depicted by Hollar in his series came from the collection of the Earl of Arundel. Despite the lack of any signature in the prints, their attribution to Hollar has never been questioned and was confirmed eight years after the artist's death when five of the prints were copied by Martin Lister in his Historiae conchyliorum.
For reasons still unknown, Hollar's own publication of the series was never realised. It appears that plates were discarded soon after the execution, as no late impressions are known. All surviving examples, including the present sheet, are printed on paper with a Foolscap watermark. They all show signs of early printing, such as wiping marks, and can be considered proofs. Their rarity, as Richard Godfrey wrote, 'has been legendary, almost from their conception' (Godfrey, 1994, p. 128).
One of Rembrandt's most sought-after prints made by Rembrandt, The Shell, from 1650 is believed to have been inspired by a print from Hollar's series, Conus Imperialis (NH 1280).