cup

 The lotus flower is an ancient decorative motif in Egyptian art. Even preceding the Old Kingdom cups without bases or feet take on the appearance of a lotus with ivory petals and schist sepals. From the New Kingdom on, the chalice with foot is a common object. Most are made from blue faience, such as this example in Brussels. The top of the chalice takes the form of the flower of a white lotus, indicated by its ribbed petals. The foot, enlarged to improve stability, is decorated with a floral motif. According to mythological texts, the lotus symbolised the flower from which the sun god was reborn each morning on the surface of the water.

Present location KMKG - MRAH [07/003] BRUSSELS
Inventory number E.4138
Dating NEW KINGDOM
Archaeological Site UNKNOWN
Category CHALICE
Material POTTERY
Technique FORMED BY HAND; PAINTED; ENGRAVED; FAYENCE
Height 12.5 cm


Diameter 8.8 cm


Bibliography•(M. Werbrouck,) Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Bruxelles. Département égyptien, Album, Bruxelles 1934, pl. 69
•Koninklijke Musea voor Kunst en Geschiedenis te Brussel. Oudheid, het Verre Oosten, Volkenkunde - Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire. Antiquités, Extrême-Orient, Ethnographie, Bruxelles 1958, Égypte nº 24
•Egypt's Golden Age. The Art of Living in the New Kingdom, 1558-1085 B.C. (Exposition), Boston 1982, 147 n° 147
•F. Lefebvre et B.

Van Rinsveld, L'Égypte. Des Pharaons aux Coptes, Bruxelles 1990, 115
http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/detail.aspx?id=628