Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)
Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)
Place of OriginEastern Mediterranean, possibly from Rhodes
DateLate 6th through 5th centuries BCE
DimensionsH: 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm); Rim Diam: 1 3/16 in. (3 cm); Diam: 1 1/16 in. (2.7 cm)
Mediumglass
ClassificationGlass
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1923.141
Not on View
DescriptionSmall alabastron. Dark blue ground with opaque yellow (appearing orangish) and opaque turquoise-blue decoration. Broad horizontal rim-disk, unusually symmetrical and even on its upper- and undersides; short cylindrical neck; round-angled shoulder; cylindrical body with upward taper; convex bottom, flat on one side. Below the shoulder, two dark blue vertical ring handles with knobbed tails. A marvered opaque yellow thread attached at the edge of the rim-disk; a second opaque yellow thread, marvered, begun on the underside of the rim and wound spirally, at first in horizontal lines, then tooled into a zigzag pattern to the middle of the body, where an opaque turquoise-blue thread is added, mingling with the yellow; below this, a second opaque turquoise-blue thread, marvered, is wound horizontally twice around the body. Core-formed glass; trailed and marvered decoration; applied handles.
Published ReferencesHayes, John W., Roman and Pre-Roman Glass in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 1975, p. 9.
Grose, 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. 73, p. 136.
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
Late 6th - 5th century BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
Probably first half of 5th century BCE
Membership
Become a TMA member today
Support TMA
Help support the TMA mission