Egyptian Bright Blue Drinking Cup

Late New Kingdom, 1200-1070 BC. A substantial bright blue glazed faience cup with button-shaped base and spherical body with marked neck, painted broad black line to the rim contrasting with the bright colour of the cup; housed in a custom-made wooden box. See Lilyquist, C., Studies in Early Egyptian Glass, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993; VV.AA., Ars Vitraria: Glass in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, new ser., vol.59, no.1 (Summer), New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001. 303 grams, 82mm (box: 15 x 16 x 15.5cm) (3 1/4 (6 x 6 1/4 x 6)"). From an important London W1, gallery; previously part of a Japanese collection, acquired before 1990; believed to have been sold through Christie's in the 1970s; accompanied by an academic report by Dr Alberto Maria Pollastrini; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.10742-177395. This glazed faience goblet was probably made by Egyptian artisans following a foreign model or directly imported from western Asia. Glass making appears to have originated in Mesopotamia and been imported into Egypt during early 18th Dynasty. Egyptian artisans had been making faience, a substance related to glass, for more than a thousand years and quickly mastered the art of glassmaking as well. [A video of this lot can be viewed on the Timeline Auctions website]
Condition Report: Fine condition.