Shells Shaping Curiosity in the Dutch Republic

This chapter discusses various ways in which seventeenth-century engagement with shells enlivened them so as to provoke a deeper contemplation of artistic, political or philosophical questions. The Dutch East India Company’s forays into Asia brought an influx of novel shell specimen and resources to European collectors, makers, and thinkers. Both a commoditized resource and an object of contemplation, shells circulated within the Dutch Republic and impacted the thinking of those who came into contact with them. The authors of this essay each trace a specific species of shell—Pinctada margaritifera, Murex brandaris and Strombus gigas—to show how the discourse around shells connected material realities to the immaterial cultures of the Dutch Republic.