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Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)

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Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)

Place of OriginEastern Mediterranean, possibly from Rhodes, Greece
DateLate 6th through 5th century BCE
DimensionsH: 5 9/16 in. (14.2 cm); Rim Diam: 1 7/16 in. (3.7 cm); Diam: 1 3/4 in. (4.5 cm)
MediumCore-formed; applied rim-disk and handles; tooling marks on the upperside of the rim-disk and at the junction of the neck and shoulder.
ClassificationGlass
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1923.342
Not on View
DescriptionThis core-formed alabastron has a dark green-blue body and lacks added decoration. The broad, horizontal rim-disk is asymmetrical and uneven, with a rounded edge and visible tooling marks on its upper surface. The short cylindrical neck meets a rounded shoulder. The body is elongated and ovoid, tapering slightly upward with its widest point below center, and ends in a convex base with a small central indentation. Two vertical ring handles with knobbed tails are applied just below the shoulder.
Published ReferencesGrose, David F., Early Ancient Glass: Core-Formed, Rod-Formed, and Cast Vessels and Objects from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Roman Empire, 1600 B.C. to A.D. 50, New York, Hudson Hills Press in association with the Toledo Museum of Art, 1989, cat. no. 64, p. 133, repr. (col.) p. 95.

Arts, P.L.W., "A Collection of Ancient Glass 500 BC - 500 AD," ANTIEK Lochem, 2000, p. 82.

Page, Jutta-Annette, The Art of Glass: Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio, Toledo Museum of Art, 2006, p. 22, repr. (col.) fig. 3B, p. 23.

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