The objects in this picture would also be categorised as naturalia and artificalia. The jewellery box below the ivory cup is made of tortoise shell inlaid with lapis lazuli, which originates from what is today Afghanistan. In the 17th century, the carapace of tortoises native to tropical waters was used to veneer furniture. Those seen here are probably from the Red Sea or the Indian Ocean. The mussels depicted are also from tropical waters. A nautilus shell, native to the western Pacific Ocean, is seen to the left of the jewellery box. The shell to the right could be that of a queen conch. No splendour without colonialism Detail from fig. 1
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