Piriform Bottle (Unguentarium)

Place of OriginSyria-Palestine

Date1st century CE

DimensionsH: 4 in. (10.2 cm); Rim Diam: 1 1/16 in. (2.7 cm); Body Diam: 2 in. (5.1 cm)

MediumGlass; free blown, threads picked up, reinflated and tooled.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.1477

Not on View

DescriptionThis small unguentarium is free-blown from pre-formed colored glass rods that create spiraling bands of opaque white, translucent light green, and dark green from the base to the rim. The rim is folded outward, upward, and inward. The bottle has a tall cylindrical neck with a tool mark at its base and a pear-shaped body that makes up more than two-thirds of its height. Its base is flattened with a slight depression in the center. The form corresponds to Isings 1957, Form 28 A.

Published ReferencesNg, Diana Y., The Art of the Everyday: Objects from Ancient Daily Life, Dearborn, Regents of the University of Michigan-Dearborn, 2019, pp. 108-111, repr. (col.) 109.Exhibition HistoryDearborn, Michigan, Berkowitz Gallery, University of Michigan, Art of the Everyday: Objects from Ancient Daily Life, Apr. 25-Jul. 5, 2019.