Square-Sectioned Kohl Tube
Square-Sectioned Kohl Tube
Place of OriginLikely Northwestern Iran
Date5th-4th century BCE
DimensionsH: 3 1/2 in. (9.2 cm); W: 13/16 in. (2.0 cm); Depth: 3/8 in. (1 cm)
MediumRod-formed; applied shoulder knobs; applied marvered and unmarvered threads.
ClassificationGlass
Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1981.60
Not on View
DescriptionThis elongated vessel has a square body that tapers to a flat bottom and a short cylindrical neck with a rounded rim. The dark green glass, which appears black, is decorated with opaque white, orange, and yellowish-green threads. The rim features a twisted coil of white, orange, and green. The body displays a combed feather or zigzag pattern in white, framed by horizontal bands of orange and white. Vertical glass threads run along the four corners of the body, and four knob-like projections sit at the shoulders . The vessel was made using a rod-formed technique where glass was trailed onto a core.
Label TextThis slender, square-sided tube was a luxury container for kohl, a black cosmetic powder used to darken eyelids in antiquity. Its dark glass body mimics the appearance of precious stone like obsidian, while the vibrant zigzag patterns in white and orange glass mimic the veining of agate or the patterns of textiles. To create this vessel, a glassmaker wound hot threads of glass around a removable core on a metal rod—a technique known as "rod-forming." The square shape and corner knobs identify it as a rare type produced in the Persian Empire, reflecting the sophisticated tastes of the Achaemenid court.Published References"Recent Important Acquisitions," Journal of Glass Studies 24, 1982, p. 87, ill.
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. 31, p. 86, repr. (col.) p. 69.
5th-4th century BCE, possibly later
Late 18th or 19th Century (1400-1225 BCE)
5th-4th century BCE, possibly later
Late 6th - 5th century BCE
18th Dynasty (1550-1292 BCE), about 1400-1350 BCE
9th-11th century CE (?)
3rd century BCE
Mid-4th to early 3rd century BCE
Probably 4th century
Mid-4th through early 3rd century BCE
New Kingdom Period
18th Dynasty (1550-1292 BCE), about 1400-1225 BCE
Probably 4th century
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