Details
A SMALL AMBER WATER POT
18TH CENTURY
Carved in high relief with a flowering prunus branch, and rocks on the reverse, the amber opaque and of variegated yellowish-brown color
3¼ in. (8.2 cm.) long
Provenance
Gerard Levy, Paris.

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Lot Essay

Amber, the translucent fossilized resin of ancient coniferous trees from the Tertiary Period (which spanned from roughly 65 to 2.6 million years ago), was considered to be a symbol of longevity, since it was known to have lain in the ground being transformed over a long period of time. The particular variety used for this charming vessel is called 'root' amber, so called because it was believed that the resin combined with clay at the root of the tree to obtain its color.

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