Unguent Bottle (Amphoriskos)

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Unguent Bottle (Amphoriskos)

Place of OriginEastern Mediterranean, possibly from Rhodes, Greece

Date5th century BCE

DimensionsH: 4 1/4 in. (10.8 cm); Rim Diam: 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm); Diam: 2 3/16 in. (5.6 cm)

Mediumglass

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.140

Not on View

DescriptionThis core-formed amphoriskos has a cobalt-blue ground decorated with opaque white and opaque yellow threads. The vessel features a broad, slightly lopsided rim-disk; a rather tall cylindrical neck; an obtuse-angled shoulder; and a tall conical body. It stands on a circular cobalt-blue base-knob with a rounded edge and an uneven underside. Two cobalt-blue vertical strap handles connect the shoulder to just below the top of the neck. An opaque white thread, unmarvered, is attached at the edge of the rim-disk. A second opaque white thread, marvered, begins on the neck and is wound spirally in three wavy lines. Another marvered white thread starts on the shoulder, is wound horizontally once, then tooled into an uneven zigzag pattern reaching the middle of the body. At this point, a marvered opaque yellow thread is added and mingles with the white thread. Below, the white thread continues spiraling in uneven horizontal lines toward the base-knob. A single wide marvered yellow thread is wound horizontally once around the lower body. The base-knob is streaked with opaque yellow. The vessel is core-formed with trailed and marvered decoration, and has applied handles and base-knob.

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. 106, p. 146-147, repr. (col.) p. 97.Comparative ReferencesSee also Hayes, John W., Roman and Pre-Roman Glass in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 1975, fig. 3, p. 9.