Germany · Goldsmithing / Metalwork
Not confirmed as a standardized period trade term in available sources; practitioners were guild goldsmiths (Goldschmiede) of Nuremberg
In sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Nuremberg, master goldsmiths turned rare imported natural specimens — nautilus shells, ostrich eggs, coconuts, rhinoceros horn, coral — into elaborate princely showpieces for the Kunstkammer, the cabinet of curiosities. A shell's outer layer was stripped away to expose its iridescent nacre, sometimes carved or engraved further, then fitted into a bespoke cast and chased silver or silver-gilt armature built individually around that one irregular, fragile object. No two mounts were alike: each natural specimen dictated its own metalwork solution. The resulting cups, table centerpieces, and nefs were prized as diplomatic gifts and symbols of wealth, global exploration, and engagement with natural philosophy — and, despite their cup form, were almost never used for drinking. The tradition, led by goldsmiths trained in Wenzel Jamnitzer's Nuremberg workshop and continued in Augsburg and later Dresden, has no living successor: it survives only through museum collections.
Risk level: Extinct · Not applicable — historical technique, no living community; not eligible for ICH designation
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