121. GOODYEAR
July 8, 2026
THE LOTUS FLOWER IN ART
William Henry Goodyear (1846–1923) was an American architectural historian, art historian, and museum curator. He was the son of Charles Goodyear (1800–1860), inventor of rubber vulcanization, and Clarissa Beecher Goodyear…. He taught at Cooper Union until 1882, when he was hired as first curator of the new Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1888 he published a popular survey of art history.
(Source: Wikipedia contributors. “William Henry Goodyear.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 28 Jun. 2026. Web. 8 Jul. 2026. Image: The New York Times, Sunday, December 18, 1887 via the TimesMachine.)
Model Lotus Flower
Middle Kingdom
ca. 2051–1981 B.C.
The water lily, more commonly known as the lotus, was one of the most ubiquitous plants and symbols of ancient Egypt. Its flower, which is either blue or white (Nymphaea coerulea and alba), closes up at night and reopens in the morning to reveal a central yellow circle radiating yellow petals. To the ancient Egyptians this phenomenon reflected the rising of the sun at the dawn of creation, and the flower was seen as a symbol of daily rebirth and rejuvenation.
Two large wooden female offering bearers were found in the same tomb as this flower and a second one (25.3.283); the flowers might have been part of offerings that the women were carrying.
(Source: The Met Collection. On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 105.)
Related: MIRACLES, ASSURANCE, ON TRACK, ROOT-AND-FLOWER, THE “TEMPLE”, MOBIL PEGASUS