Kunstkammer Georg Laue of Munich exhibits the Humboldt cup at TEFAF Maastricht, the world's leading art and antiques fair (16-25 March 2012). This rare cup was owned in the 18th century by Alexander von Humboldt, the German naturalist and explorer. The Humboldt cup belongs to a series of art works commissioned by the Dutch prince and general Johan Maurits van Nassau (1604-1679) in order to add lustre to his official image. Like the ethnographic portraits of Brazilian cannibals by Albert Eckhout (1607-1665), from which the representations on the cup’s bowl are inspired, the Humboldt cup was executed between 1648 and 1653 in the Netherlands after Johan Maurits’ return from Dutch-Brazil. It is one of the few mounted coconuts with carved representations of Brazilian cannibals. Only four comparable objects have survived in public collections, one of them in the Green Vault in Dresden.