The statement of the object is partially based on the novel of Joris-Karl Huysmans

– “À rebours”, mainly on the passage about gems encrusted tortoise.

“A Rebours defines the decadent spirit as one of simul ation-that the idea of a thing is purer-and therefore more desirable-than the thing itsself. This is best illustrated in one of the most famous chapters where, after a lengthy reverie into the merits of various gemstones, Des Esseintes decides that the best way to display his favorite jewels would be to have them set into the shell of a living tortoise. The jeweler finally returns with the encrusted tortoise, which takes about two steps and dies from the immense weight of the stones. The entire decadent movement was imbibed with this sense of embellishing and improving the natural, and no single book encapsulates the decadent/symbolist aesthetic like A Rebours.”