Nautilus Cup, Netherlands, ca. 1590, silver, nautilus shell. H 32.5 cm × W × 19.5 cm d 11.7 cm. BK-1953-23. Rijskmuseum, Amsterdam

Nautilus Cup with gilded silver mounts, standing on one foot with two godronranden and a procession Tritons on the curve. Moreover, on a small plateau surrounded by loose scrolls, a dolphin on the back with a satyr, which supports the shell. The shell is mounted in three brackets; a caryatid on the front and on both sides with a hermtriton pivoted, twisting tail. When the rosette-shaped nut near the mouth rim two smaller Tritons. Along the mouth edge in points depending, openwork band work. At the top of the shell a rimmed, oval cap in accordance with drooping band work. To crown a prancing hippocamp which Neptune is seated.

The nautilus, a mollusk related to cuttlefish, has not evolved into hundreds of millions of years. It is a living fossil. His shell was considered a natural wonder. Most parts of the cup refer to the sea: a dolphin, mermen, Neptune on a seahorse. An exception is the satyr holding high the shell: he is an inhabitant of forest and field.