A rare cameo glass beaker, Near East, circa 9th century

of truncated conical form with straight flaring walls and flat base with small pontil, of transparent glass with deep green overlays carved in the form of a pair of stylised hares in double-line rectangular cartouches with linear wheel-cut ornament

There are a number of comparable pieces of cameo glass incorporating distinctive green overlay. Prominent amongst these is a cup in the Staatliche Museum in Berlin (Carboni 2001, p.194, no.98)  excavated by Sarre and Herzfeld in the Palace of al-Mu'tasim at Samarra. This palace complex was abandoned by the Abbasid court in favour of Baghdad in A.D. 882, offering a terminus date for the Berlin piece and related material including the present lot.

Comparable examples of cameo glass can be found in major public institutions: The British Museum (Carboni 2001, p.194, no.99), The David Collection (Ibid., p.195, no.100) and The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (von Saldern 1980, p.156, no.149) amongst others.