Egypt (royal workshop)

Glass Chalice with the Cartouche of Thutmose III, New Kingdom Eighteenth Dynasty

2094

New Kingdom, Eighteenth Dynasty, c. 1479–1425 BCE (reign of Thutmose III)

A lotiform glass chalice bearing the cartouche of Pharaoh Thutmose III, produced in an Egyptian royal workshop c. 1479–1425 BCE, among the oldest securely datable glass vessels in human history, now in the State Collection of Antiquities in Munich. The chalice mimics the upward-flaring petals of an open blue lotus flower, with a sweeping upper calyx, a constricted cylindrical stem, and a flat footplate. The turquoise-blue core-formed body is decorated with the cartouche of Thutmose III in dark-blue glass trails at the central body; rhythmic festoon friezes of alternating dark-blue and bright-yellow loops draping from rim and rising from base; and a polychrome scalloped band at the rim. Analysis of black organic residue inside the vessel suggests use for storing or dispensing kohl or cosmetic oils. The raised glass trails cast microscopic shadows in the combed troughs, producing a subtle vitreous chiaroscuro under directional illumination.