Unguentarium
Unguentarium
Place of OriginCyprus, excavated by 1873
Date2nd-4th century CE
DimensionsGlass Dimensions: 8 11/16 × 1 11/16 × 3 13/16 in. (22.1 × 4.3 × 9.7 cm)
Mediumglass
ClassificationGlass
Object number
1916.152
Not on View
DescriptionThis disk-shaped unguentarium (Candlestick Class VIIB1a) is free-blown and tooled from medium thin glass. The vessel is transparent decolored glass with a yellowish gray tinge (5 Y 7/2). Weathering has obscured the clarity of the fabric.
The rim is narrow, hollow, and outsplayed horizontally, then rolled inward and flattened to form a wide brim. The tall neck tapers gently and features a constriction at its base. The flat, bell-shaped body rises slightly at the center and comprises less than one-fifth of the vessel’s total height, with walls forming a gentle S-curve. The base is concave. There is no pontil mark.
Label TextThis small object marks a formative moment in the Toledo Museum of Art’s “teenage years.” In 1916, the museum made a deliberate decision to collect Greek and Roman antiquities more systematically, acquiring a group of eighty-eight ceramic, bronze, and glass objects from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. All were excavated on Cyprus by Luigi Palma di Cesnola (1832–1904), the Met’s first president, and entered Toledo’s collection when the institution was still defining the scope of its antiquities holdings.
The bronze objects (1916.134–1916.149) reflect Cyprus’s early mastery of copper, a resource so central to the island that its Latin name, cuprum, derives from Cyprus itself. Bronze Age weapons, including a dagger (1916.149), attest to early casting traditions, while later Roman-period tools reveal long-term continuity in everyday practices. Tweezers (1916.147), cosmetic implements (1916.144–145), mirrors (1916.135–136), and a rare buckle (1916.146) point to routines of personal care across centuries.
The glass vessels (1916.150–1916.165) document a different technological transformation. Most are Roman blown glass, produced after the invention of the blowpipe in the first century BCE, a development that shifted glassmaking from a luxury craft to large-scale production. One earlier ribbed bowl (1916.153), formed by slumping glass over a mold, preserves an older and more labor-intensive technique.
The acquisition also included several dozen ceramic vessels. Over time, the scope of the museum’s collection evolved, and most of these ceramics were later deaccessioned. Two Archaic vessels from Cyprus, a stamnos (1916.79) and an oinochoe (1916.96), remain in the collection as representatives of this early phase of collecting.
Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, The Egypt Experience: Secrets of the Tomb, October 29, 2010-January 8, 2012.First half of 3rd century CE
First half of 3rd century
2nd-4th century CE
2nd-4th century CE
probably 2nd century CE
2nd-4th century
2nd-4th century CE
2nd-4th century CE
Late second to mid-3rd century
2nd-4th century CE
Membership
Become a TMA member today
Support TMA
Help support the TMA mission

