Piriform Bottle with One Handle (Unguentarium)
Piriform Bottle with One Handle (Unguentarium)
Place of OriginRoman Empire
Date4th century CE
DimensionsGlass Dimensions: 3 9/16 × 1 × 1 7/8 in. (9 × 2.5 × 4.8 cm)
Mediumglass
ClassificationGlass
Object number
1916.164
Not on View
DescriptionThis piriform bottle (IA1[b] with handle IA2ac; Isings 1957, Forms 8–28 [variation]) is made of transparent natural pale green glass (near 10 G 6/2), with a similarly colored translucent handle. The vessel is free-blown and tooled, with no pontil mark. Small spherical bubbles are visible throughout, particularly elongated vertically in the neck and upper body.
The circular mouth features an everted collar rim, folded outward, downward, outward again, and upward. The tall cylindrical neck has a slight bulge just above the base, marked by a band of approximately four tool marks. The piriform body constitutes about two-thirds of the vessel’s height. The base is flattened.
A single plain coil handle extends from the lower neck to the rim and is folded into a distinctive closed figure-eight form. At the point of application, the handle terminates in a crimped tail that extends down the body.
Published References(possibly) Cesnola, Atlas III, pl. xcv:1 (ex Vessberg, text p. 128).
1st century CE
2nd-3rd century CE
1st-2nd century CE
1st century CE
2nd-3rd century CE
2nd-3rd century
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