Details

LOT 0022

Egyptian Palm-Column Glass Kohl Flask

NEW KINGDOM, 18TH DYNASTY, 1550-1292 BC

4 1/4" (125 grams, 11cm).

A glass cylindrical vessel decorated to the neck with stylised palm fronds, outlined in yellow; to the body, bands of green and yellow.

Provenance

On the London art market since 1996; with Pierre Bergé & Associés, Archéologie, Paris, 29 May 2013, lot 43 (45,000-50,000 euros); formerly in a private Japanese collection since at least 1980; accompanied by copies of the relevant Pierre Bergé catalogue pages.

Literature

Cf. Nolte, B. Die Glasgefässe im alten Ägypten, Berlin, 1968, pl.XXXI-XXXIV; also see Corning Museum of Glass, accession number 71.1.4 for type.

Footnotes

Flasks of this type were made by core forming, a technique imported into Egypt from the Eastern Mediterranean which was developed as an industry in the 18th and 19th Dynasties. The palm column shape, recalling a traditional element of Egyptian architecture, was common for glass kohl tubes and would have been sealed with a stopper and accompanied by a glass applicator.

CONDITION