This object is currently on display in room 201 as part of Acquired! Shaping the National Design Collection. There is one other image of this object. This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions), and as such we offer a high-resolution image of it. See our image rights statement.
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Lotus-shaped Cup (Egypt)
This is a Lotus-shaped cup. It is dated ca. 1100 BC and we acquired it in 1960. Its medium is colored faience (ceramic frit). It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.
A Toast to Life, Death, and Rebirth
Dated to circa 1100 BC, this ancient Egyptian lotus-shaped cup remains a stunning example of a drinking vessel three-thousand years later. It only stands 3 1/8 inches tall, but its brilliant blue glaze catches the eye and draws one in to take a closer look. Only then does the decorative black outline of a lotus flower become apparent around the cup, along with a single wavy line near the base to represent the shallow water from which the flower grows.
The cup gets its distinctive turquoise color from the addition of copper to the medium, a ground quartz-based material, called faience. This type of faience was widely popular in both ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, and is considered a precursor to glass and clay. To make it, craftsmen ground quartz or sand and then mixed the particles with soda, lime, and other compounds. Copper was also added before the mixture was sculpted and left to dry in the sun. Afterwards, the sculpted pieces were placed in a specially designed kiln and baked. The copper reacted to the extreme heat of the kiln, resulting in a brilliant blue color when it finished baking hours later.
In the case of this particular drinking vessel, the striking turquoise color is not only decorative, it also reflects the lotus motif around the cup. The Egyptian lotus flower, which has many sharply pointed blue petals surrounding a yellow center, was a powerful symbol in ancient Egyptian culture. It was seen to represent life, death, and rebirth because every morning the flower blooms, opening up its blue petals as if being born; each evening the flower closes its petals, symbolizing death. The next morning, the process starts all over again, reflecting the idea of rebirth, renewal, and ultimately, immortality. With this in mind, it is no wonder that this motif is often found in tombs of ancient Egyptian pharaohs hoping to be reborn into the immortal afterlife.
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RESOURCES:
Paul Nicholson. "Faience technology." UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, 1(1). nelc_uee_7930. (2009) Retrieved from: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/9cs9x41z
C. Ossian. "The most beautiful flowers: Water lilies & lotuses in ancient Egypt." KMA: A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt, 10 (1). (1999) Retrieved from http://www.kmtjournal.com/
This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled A Toast to Life, Death, and Rebirth.
It is credited Museum purchase through gift of Eleanor and Sarah Hewitt.
- Egyptian Revival Style Biscuit Tin
- offset lithograph on tin.
- 1990-93-4-a,b
- Cymbals (Luristan (western Iran))
- bronze.
- Gift of Paul Manheim.
- 1967-92-15-a,b
- The Weighing of the Heart Brooch In Art Form Holder
- gold, faience (ceramic frit amulet fragment, egyptian, 7th-5th century bc),....
- Gift of Linda Lichtenberg Kaplan.
- 2011-15-1
Our curators have highlighted 8 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:
- Tile (USA), ca. 1930
- painted and glazed stoneware.
- Gift of Florence I. Balasny-Barnes.
- 1986-107-2
- Goddess Sakhmet Figure
- glazed fritware.
- Gift of the Estate of David Wolfe Bishop.
- 1951-185-21-a,b
- Lotus Bowl
- raised and chased silver.
- Museum purchase from the Members' Acquisitions Fund of Cooper-Hewitt,....
- 2008-3-1
Its dimensions are
H x diam.: 8 x 5 cm (3 1/8 x 1 15/16 in.)
Cite this object as
Lotus-shaped Cup (Egypt); colored faience (ceramic frit); H x diam.: 8 x 5 cm (3 1/8 x 1 15/16 in.); Museum purchase through gift of Eleanor and Sarah Hewitt; 1960-29-1
In addition to Acquired! Shaping the National Design Collection, this object was previously on display as part of the exhibition Making Design.
