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In this diagonal arrangement the precious nautilus cup dominates the composition. De Heem rendered the mother-of-pearl gleam of the exotic nautilus shell with remarkable precision. A long, dried-out lemon peel has been laid over the shell, linking the nautilus cup with the silver beaker in front of it, in whose engraved silver surface the peel is reflected. This beaker, with its simple decoration, forms in its turn the background for another precious object: the glass-holder, in which a 'berkemeyer' (a glass with a thick, hollow stem and a wide, conical bowl) has been clamped.
The splendour of this still-life lies not only in its perfect arrangement within the diagonal composition, but also in the painstakingly chosen gradations of colour which run along the same diagonal. The yellow of the lemon peel is followed by the softer yellow of the glass-holder and the orange of the peach; the red lobster closes off the composition.
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