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Lot Essay
There is a long tradition of nautilus shell and scallop shell shapes in European (especially southern) metalwork, as well as of actual shells mounted in precious metals. Such objects were made as table ornaments as well as for ecclesiastical use. Chinese export porcelain models of the present kind were fashionable in the first quarter of the 18th century, at the height of the Chinese Imari era, but also continued to be requested as fashion turned to floral famille rose in the second half of the century. See Jorg, Porcelain and the Dutch China Trade, p. 174, for a discussion of the VOC directors' 1762 order.
A very similar example in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Rafi Y. Mottahedeh is illustrated by Howard & Ayers, op. cit., p. 144 and was sold Sotheby's New York, 30 January 1985, lot 74. Another was sold Sotheby's New York, 20 January 1998, lot 1885
A very similar example in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Rafi Y. Mottahedeh is illustrated by Howard & Ayers, op. cit., p. 144 and was sold Sotheby's New York, 30 January 1985, lot 74. Another was sold Sotheby's New York, 20 January 1998, lot 1885