Still Life with Ostrich Egg Cup and the Whitfield Heirlooms

Trained in the Dutch Republic before making his career in London, Pieter van Roestraeten specialized in compositions populated with luxury goods crafted from rare, imported materials like those seen here. On the right stands a lidded agate cup with detailed silver mounts, counterbalanced to the left of the grouping by another cup, which has been overturned to reveal its mother-of-pearl lining. A piece of valuable and versatile coral, sourced from the coasts of Italy and France, dangles over the front edge of the table. The central item in this still life, the ostrich egg cup, is in the collection of the Art Institute. Known as the Whitfield Cup, it was created in 1590 by the royal jeweler John Spilman.