Cup with cover 19th century

This covered cup, made by Reinhold Vasters, stands at 10 1/2 inches and presents a fascinating study in contrasts. The cool clarity of the glass is sharply juxtaposed with the warm gleam of gold. The overall form is one of vertical elegance, from its wide base through to the domed lid, which draws the eye upward. Vasters plays with surface and depth, with engraved patterns creating a subtle dance of light and shadow across the cup's clear body. The horizontal bands of polychrome enamel provide visual anchors, disrupting the verticality and segmenting the form. These bands remind us of the structuralist grid, where meaning emerges from difference. The cup destabilizes easy categorization. Is it purely functional, or primarily decorative? Does it celebrate the transparency of glass, or the opacity of metal? Such questions are crucial in our reading of the piece. The cup invites us to consider how material contrasts and formal arrangements function not just aesthetically, but as part of a discourse on value and visibility.