A pair of still lifes with shells

These two still-lives with exotic sea shells can be compared to a similar composition, executed on paper, by Johann Jakob Dietzsch in the collection of the Morgan Library and Museum in New York (inv. 2010.153). Another composition with sea shells on vellum by the artist was recently sold at auction (Christie’s, New York, 27 January 2022, lot 98). Among the exotic shells included in the compositions can be recognized an Articulate Harp (Harpa Articularis) and a Semicassis Saburon.