Ancient Egyptian Glass inlay shaped as a bird

Very rare and hard to find glass bird in blue-green color. Former collector has sealed it, to protect it. Size: 3 x 2,7 cm Period: New Kingdom Provenance: German private collection before 1980's, Belgium collection 1990's The ancient Egyptians held the color blue in very high regard and were eager to present it on many media and in a variety of forms. They also desired to imitate the semiprecious stones turquoise and lapis lazuli, which were valued for their rarity and stark blue color. Extensive glass manufacture in Egypt started in the beginning of the New Kingdom with the Eighteenth Dynasty (1550BC) . Prior to that time, the Egyptians used glass primarily as a glaze for beads. The discovery of faience was the next step in the evolution of glass in Egypt. Faience was used before glass and it is a mixture of quartz sand and an alkaline substance covered by vitreous glaze which, once mixed, can then be molded, cast or even thrown on a wheel" (Battle 16) . It is thought that the craft of glass making was first introduced full-scale into Egypt by glass makers captured by Thutmose II (1479-1425 BC) . The seller guarantees that he acquired this piece according to all national and international laws related to the ownership of cultural property. Provenance statement seen by Catawiki. The seller will take care that any necessary permits, like an export license will be arranged, he will inform the buyer about the status of it if this takes more than a few days.