This was the lead illustration for a book titled "More Stately Mansions," based on the ode to the chambered nautilus. It is and remains my only genuinely sci-fic illustration; The figure is an alien in stasis, protecting in some way the offspring created by a "motherstorm" pictured in the background and the nautilus is of course pure metaphor relating to the alien offspring. Despite its fearsome appearance, the alien is of a benevolent species.