A RARE HELLENISTIC 'LOTUS' GLASS BEAKER

CIRCA 3RD-2ND CENTURY B.C., EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN

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A RARE HELLENISTIC 'LOTUS' GLASS BEAKER
CIRCA 3RD-2ND CENTURY B.C., EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN
Of cast pale green translucent glass, deep ovoid form, the ribbed overlapping lotus petals emerging from a convex base with wheel-cut circle, the plain collar rim with two wheel-cut lines above the petals, greenish-gold and purple iridescence, repaired
3 in. (9.5 cm.) high

Lot Essay

The lotiform beaker appears to be influenced by Achaemenid petalled bowls in metal and glass, cf. S. M. Goldstein, Pre-Roman and Early Roman Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass, New York, 1979, pp. 118-119, nos. 248-250; it is also similar to Hellenistic silver vessel prototypes, cf. A. Oliver, Silver for the Gods, Toledo, 1977, no. 47; see Goldstein, op. cit., p. 134, no. 277 and D. B. Harden et al, Masterpieces of Glass, The British Museum, London, 1968, p. 32, no. 36 for Hellenistic glass petalled bowls; and D. F. Grose, The Toledo Museum of Art: Early Ancient Glass, New York, 1989, p. 179 and 204, no. 211 for a Hellenistic glass fluted bowl.

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