Shell (Vasum ceramicum)

c. 1645

Wenceslaus Hollar

Associated Names
Wenceslaus Hollar

Artist, Bohemian, 1607 - 1677

The image shows a detailed etching of a large seashell with spiky, protruding edges. The color palette consists of shades of black and white. The shell is positioned centrally on a plain background, lying horizontally with its pointed end directed towards the right side of the image. The texture and intricate patterns on the shell are carefully depicted, contrasting sharply against the lighter background.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Hugh Melville Howard [1883-1919], Delgamy (Lugt 1280b); (his sale, Sotheby's, London, 25-26 February 1936, no. 292); Dr. Francis Springell [1898-1974], Portinscale, Keswick, England; (sale, Sotheby's, London, 30 November 1989, lot 109); (Susan Schulman and Carolyn Bullard, New York); purchased by NGA with funds from Edward William Carter and Hannah Locke Carter, 1992.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1992

  • Dürer to Diebenkorn: Recent Acquisitions of Art of Paper, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1992, no. 19.

2025

  • Little Beasts: Art Wonder and the Natural World, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2025.

Bibliography

1982

  • Pennington, Richard. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Etched Work of Wenceslaus Hollar 1607-1677. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982.

1996

  • The New Hollstein German Engravings, Etchings and Woodcuts, 1400-1700. (Wenceslaus Hollar, Simon Turner, author). Rotterdam: Sound & Vision Interactive, 1996-, no. 1286, state only.

Inscriptions

recto: none; verso: at bottom right, in graphite, in later hand: P2201

Markings

Hugh Melville Howard [Lugt 1280b]

Watermarks

none

Wikidata ID

Q75118181

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