Unguent Bottle (Amphoriskos)
Unguent Bottle (Amphoriskos)
Place of OriginEastern Mediterranean, possibly from Syro-Palestinian
Date2nd-1st century BCE
DimensionsH: 6 5/16 in. (16 cm); Rim Diam: 1 1/8 in. (2.9 cm); Diam: 2 1/16 in. (5.2 cm)
Mediumglass
ClassificationGlass
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1923.138
Not on View
DescriptionThis amphoriskos is made of dark yellowish-green glass that appears opaque black, and it is decorated with opaque yellow and opaque turquoise-blue threads. The vessel features a moderately broad rim-disk that is uneven and slopes inward, a very tall cylindrical neck, a wide obtuse-angled shoulder, and an uneven ovoid body. The bottom is convex and pointed, and it is supported by a short, bulbous base-knob made from natural yellowish-green glass with an irregularly rounded end. Two vertical strap handles of the same yellowish-green glass extend from the shoulder to the upper part of the neck and rise just above the rim-disk.
An opaque yellow thread, marvered into the surface, is attached at the edge of the rim-disk and wound spirally. It first forms almost horizontal lines around the neck and shoulder, then is tooled into a close-set festoon pattern on the body, and finally continues in horizontal lines down to the base-knob. A marvered opaque turquoise-blue thread is also applied at the neck. This thread mingles with the yellow and concludes in a single horizontal line just above the base-knob. The vessel is core-formed, with applied rim-disk, handles, and base-knob, as well as applied marvered threads.
Published ReferencesHayes, John W., Roman and Pre-Roman Glass in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 1975, p. 15.
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, Hudson Hills Press in Association with the Toledo Museum of Art, New York, 1989, cat. no. 172, p. 171, repr. (col.) p. 107, drawing, p. 408.
2nd-1st century BCE
5th century BCE
2nd through mid-1st century BCE
2nd through mid-1st century BCE
2nd-1st century BCE
Late sixth to fifth centuries BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
2nd through mid-1st century BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
Probably first half of fifth century BCE
2nd-1st century BCE
5th century BCE
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