Nautilus shell on pedestal

Large Nautilus shells, decorated and
mounted on complicated ornate metal structures, were quite common and popular
in Germany during the Baroque period. This Nautilus shell has been decorated
with figures of insects, butterflies and a little bird perched on a fruit. On
the top of the shell has been fixed a small statue of a woman holding a
cartouche. The vines with bunches of grapes on the mounting join the shell to
its pedestal. The stem has two figures – a woman embracing a man who holds a
falcon and an oar. At the couple’s feet is a turtle, while marine animals
surround the edge of the pedestal. Along the edge of the foot is the stamp of
the town of Augsburg, the pinecone.