Gabriel Argy-Rousseau Pâte de Verre "Lotus" Vase
Regular price
$7,500
This Argy-Rousseau “Lotus” pate de verre vase is decorated with bouquets of Nymphaea caerulea, the blue water lily or “blue lotus,” a flower closely associated with the annual flooding of the Nile. Because its blossoms close at night and reopen at dawn to reveal a radiant yellow center, the flower became a powerful symbol of rebirth, renewal, and the daily journey of the sun in ancient Egyptian belief. The blue lotus was also the heraldic plant of Upper Egypt and played an important role in religious ceremonies. Containing the psychoactive alkaloid nuciferine, its essence was infused into oils and wine used in rituals dedicated to Hathor, the goddess of love, pleasure, and intoxication. The flower frequently appears in tomb paintings and funerary texts, including the Book of the Dead, where it is associated with transformation, resurrection, and sacred rites.
Item #: YG-22105
Artist: Gabriel Argy-Rousseau
Country: France
Circa: 1924
Dimensions: 4" height, 4" diameter.
Materials: Pâte de Verre Glass
Signed: “G. Argy-Rousseau”
Literature: Pictured in, G. Argy-Rousseau, by Janine Bloch-Dermant, p. 197. signed G. Argy-Rousseau
Item #: YG-22105
Artist: Gabriel Argy-Rousseau
Country: France
Circa: 1924
Dimensions: 4" height, 4" diameter.
Materials: Pâte de Verre Glass
Signed: “G. Argy-Rousseau”
Literature: Pictured in, G. Argy-Rousseau, by Janine Bloch-Dermant, p. 197. signed G. Argy-Rousseau
Argy-Rousseau's vase is rendered in purple (manganese dioxide) and turquoise blue (cuprous oxide) metallic oxides. During the 1920s, Argy-Rousseau started to use much larger cullets of glass mixed with either metallic oxides or glass powders in order to emulate the myhrrina vessels of the Romans. Those carved vessels were made from fluorspar or fluorite, a mineral composed of calcium fluoride (CaF2). The mineral had bands of turquoise and purple, and translucent white. The myhrrina bowls, in turn, curiously derive their name from the smell of myrrh given when Fluorspar is broken.
Argy-Rousseau's vase is rendered in purple (manganese dioxide) and turquoise blue (cuprous oxide) metallic oxides. During the 1920s, Argy-Rousseau started to use much larger cullets of glass mixed with either metallic oxides or glass powders in order to emulate the myhrrina vessels of the Romans. Those carved vessels were made from fluorspar or fluorite, a mineral composed of calcium fluoride (CaF2). The mineral had bands of turquoise and purple, and translucent white. The myhrrina bowls, in turn, curiously derive their name from the smell of myrrh given when Fluorspar is broken.
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