Pokal with cover 1780 - 1790

This covered Pokal was crafted from glass around 1744-1810 by Johann Sigismund Menzel. The silhouette, a dark profile enclosed within an oval, dominates the piece, evoking a sense of memory. Consider the ancient Roman practice of creating portrait busts to honor ancestors. This impulse to capture and remember persists. The cameo style, often associated with classical antiquity, reappears here, linking the present with the past. The silhouette, reduced to its most essential form, paradoxically speaks volumes. It is a mask, concealing as much as it reveals, prompting us to fill in the blanks with our own projections. The garlands evoke a feeling of celebration, which has its roots in ancient rites of offering. Here, they enhance the symbol of remembrance. The impulse to immortalize and idealize through portraiture continues its cyclical return, each time imbued with the cultural and emotional nuances of its era.