Safavieh Nautical Nautilus Ammonite Ocean Sea Shell Table Lamp 28'

Description

Late 20th century Safavieh New York modern Nautilus H Shell table lamp. Rectangular stepped black base and three columns supporting a resin nautilus shell in light brown. Includes harp, black finial, and white cloth shade. Maritime, Beach, Ocean.

Before we understood what they were, one of the explanations for ammonites was that they were coiled-up snakes that had been turned to stone, earning them the nickname 'snakestones'. But ammonites weren't reptiles: they were ocean-dwelling molluscs, specifically cephalopods.

Ammonites are extinct shelled cephalopods. All of them had a chambered shell that they used for buoyancy.

The group Cephalopoda is divided into three subgroups: coleoids (including squids, octopuses and cuttlefishes), nautiloids (the nautiluses) and ammonites.

Ammonites' shells make the animals look most like nautiluses, but they are actually thought to be more closely related to coleoids.

'Some of their morphology was closer to that of the coleoid group,' says Zoë. 'We think it’s more likely that ammonites would have had eight arms rather than lots of tentacles like a nautilus, though the shell is more similar to that of a nautilus.'

Ammonites were born with tiny shells and, as they grew, they built new chambers onto it. They would move their entire body into a new chamber and seal off their old and now too-small living quarters with walls known as septa.

Ammonites' growing shells typically formed into a flat spiral, known as a planispiral, although a variety of shapes did evolve over time. Shells could be a loose spiral or tightly curled with whorls touching. They could be flat or helical. Some species would begin growing their shell in a tight spiral but straighten it out through later growth phases. There were also some more unusual shapes - the species Nipponites mirabilis, which is found in Japan, is exceptionally rare and looks a bit like a knot.

Condition

Good Overall - Gentle wear

Dimensions

10" x 6.5" x 21" / Shade - 15" x 10" x 10" / Total Height - 27.5" (Width x Depth x Height)