NEW KINGDOM, 18TH DYNASTY, 1550-1295 B.C.

The exterior of this chalice is decorated with four lotus buds. As F.D. Friedman informs (Gifts of the Nile: Ancient Egyptian Faience, no. 114), "the meaning of the lotus, the ubiquitous symbol of new life, was enhanced through depicting it in faience, a material in which notions of light and rebirth were intrinsic."