#helix-like

In January 1990 the Colin Harper collection of shells in pottery and porcelain, also glass, books, watercolours & prints was auctioned via Phillips in London. Ad Hovestadt kindly lend me the catalogue of this auction, in which I found one item with land shells [1: item 68].

Both snails are clearly Helix-like species, but their color pattern is a personal interpretation of the anonymous artist…

The Catedral de la Santa Cruz y Santa Eulalia (known as the Barcelona Cathedral) was built during the 13th-15th century [1], with many gargyoles on the outside. The following image shows besides one of gargyoles also a snail [2].

The snail is a sinistral specimen of a Helix-like species, with an indistinctly ribbed shell and a thickened apertural lip. The animal has both long and short tentacles.

One engraving, found when searching the online collection of The Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, was “Enraged Cupid Riding a Snail” which is dated 1533 and attributed to the Master of the Breisach Alterpiece [1].

Unfortunately, no detailed picture is available, but I found a slightly higher resolution here [2], entitled “Cupid riding a snail over fungus vegetation”, which is, however,…

In the Sculpture & Decorative Arts Department of the Paul J. Getty Museum, this huge (2m73 high!) bronze vase was made in 1889 by the French artist Jean-Désiré Ringel d’Illzach (1847–1916) [1]. He was a well-known sculpter and engraver in his time, who made portraits of various personalities, e.g. Charles Gounod and Louis Pasteur [2].

On the base of the vase a number of snails can be seen, but…

Sometimes snail findings are peculiar, especially if not in a museum but in a public area. This is the case in the German town Limburg an der Lahn (Hessen), where the “Hattstein Brunnen” [fountain] has a central place. It was erected to honour the robber baron Friedrich von Hattstein, who became town captain in 1353 [1]. The contextual picture is from [2]; see also [3] for more historical…

An anonymous artist designed this postcard for “Maison E. Choiselle”, which was used as recommendation to potential clients. “À la renommée des escargots” denoting that their snails were famous. The card was made at the beginning of the 20th century in France [1].

The King of snails is here welcomed by three trumpeters (no doubt playing The sound of a snail [2]:) and preceded by a lot of…

This drawing in the Metropolitan Museum of Art was made by Johannes Brandenberg, a Swiss painter (1661–1729), in 1712 or later. The title is “Shield King: A Man Astride a Snail” and may be seen as a variation on the ‘knight v. snail’ theme. Here both seem to go peaceful together… But the inscription on the back tells otherwise: “Der Schiltenkünig, Pfifer General an der Vilmergen Schlacht. Mit…

“Basket with flowers” is the title of this painting in Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, which is now attributed to the school of Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder [1]. The description explains that, although each separate flower is naturalistaically illustrated, the combination of flowers in this basket is imaginary as tulips and roses don’t blossom at the same time. Based on drawings,…