In 2001, on the occasion of its 75th anniversary, the Amsterdam Historical Museum acquired an engraved shell which had once belonged to the famous Albertus Seba (1665-1736), an apothecary at Amsterdam, who was the proud owner of an extensive collection of natural objects, that – though dispersed by auction 16 years after his death – was nevertheless kept alive in an equally extensive and sumptuous four-volume catalogue, published in Amsterdam between 1734 and 1765. The new museum exhibit is an almost perfect match, down to the smallest detail, of figure 9 on plate 85 of Volume 3 of Seba's Thesaurus. Its subject are three little boys dancing to the music of a panpipe and a tambourine, played by a satyr and a nymph. It carries a signature ""c.b.f"", short for ""Cornelis Bellekin fecit"". Comelis Bellekin was the most prodigious member of a family of mother-of-pearl engravers and worked at Amsterdam in the second half of the 17th century. His work was much coveted by contemporary collectors and includes engraved oyster, Nautilus and Turbo shells as well as ostrich eggs, decorated with mythological, biblical and genre motifs. Though much of his output must be presumed lost, quite a few pieces have survived and can now be seen in museums all over Europe and even in the United States. The recent acquisition by the AHM bears a faint promise of a future in which other objects by Bellekin may be rediscovered in order to find their rightful place in public collections.