Pear-shaped ornament design with a female satyr and grotesque motifs on a black ground

Engraving, part of a series of 7 pear-shaped ornament designs with grotesque motifs executed on black grounds, created by Étienne Delaune in Strasbourg in 1573. The pear shapes and size of the prints are similar to those of the fashionable jewelry of the time, suggesting that this set was very likely intended as a model for silver and goldsmiths. The design is made up of a canopy made up of thin branches and a small tent, in which stands a female satyr, her legs wrapping around each other. Her hands are holding on to the two branches on her sides, which hold the tent that makes up the upper part of the canopy, and which form scrolling motifs ending on lion heads. Two eagles are perched on the scrolls, on the summit of the print. Two crabs hang from the lower parts of the scrolls, to the sides of the satyr's head. On the sides of the print are two vases with long branches of ivy, standing on top of two scrolls that end on human heads crowned with laurel wreaths. The bottom part of the print contains a winged female head. The scrolling motifs ending in lion heads are very likely inspired by a print with grotesque motifs created by Heinrich Aldegrever around 1540.