Published Roman Glass Lotus Bud Beaker

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Fine Antiquities / Asian / Ethnographic Art

By Artemis Gallery

Aug 30, 2018

Set Reminder 2018-08-30 10:00:00 2018-08-30 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Fine Antiquities / Asian / Ethnographic Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/fine-antiquities-asian-ethnographic-art-3402
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• Lot Description
  Roman, early Imperial Period, ca. 1st century CE. A stunning mold-formed beaker made from colorless glass with a green-hued tinge. The translucent vessel is composed of a flat base with six stylized lines radiating around a concentric circle, a gently-flaring profile with thin walls, a deep interior cavity, and a splayed, lightly-ground rim. Five rows of raised lotus bud and hemispherical patterns encircle the body, hence the vessel's designation as a "lotus bud" beaker. Faint areas of silvery and rainbow-hued iridescence complement the vessel's pale verdant coloration, imbuing it with an opulent appearance. Typical lotus bud beakers display only the teardrop-shaped buds, so the secondary dotted motif makes this an elaborate and extremely rare example. Size: 2.625" W x 4.2" H (6.7 cm x 10.7 cm).
  
  Most scholars agree, Roman glass was of the highest quality - both aesthetically and technically - among the ancients. While glass making had been practiced for centuries, glass blowing was invented in the Roman-controlled Holy Land in the 1st century BCE. This innovative technology revolutionized the artform. We can appreciate such a wide variety of forms and shapes, because the medium of glass has unique physical properties that make for so many more possibilities which would eventually replace a wide variety of pottery and metal wares in the ancient world. Roman glassmakers reached incredible artistic heights with both free-blown vessels and mold blown forms and decorations and were traded far beyond the Roman Empire. Roman glass vessels have been found in Scandinavia, India, and in Han Dynasty tombs in China.
  
  Published in "Solid Liquid: Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic Glass." Fortuna Fine Arts, Ltd., 1999, p. 73, fig. 126.
  
  For a similar example, please see the Corning Museum of Glass, accession number 79.1.96: https://www.cmog.org/artwork/knobbed-or-lotus-bud-beaker-0
  
  A similar example hammered for GBP 2,000 ($2,665.96) at Christie's, London, South Kensington Antiquities Auction (sale 6060, April 14, 2011, lot 183): https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/a-roman-pale-green-glass-lotus-bud-5425353-details.aspx
  
  Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
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  #135625

  Condition

  Vessel repaired from several large pieces with some areas of restoration along rim. Surface wear and minor abrasions commensurate with age as expected, very minor nicks and some roughness to rim and base, and some fading to pale green coloration. Light earthen deposits as well as faint silvery and rainbow iridescence throughout.
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