Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)
Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)
Place of OriginEastern Mediterranean, possibly from Rhodes
DateLate sixth through fifth centuries BCE
DimensionsH: 4 11/16 in. (11.9 cm); Diam: 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm); Max Diam of Body: 1 1/8 in. (2.9 cm)
Mediumglass
ClassificationGlass
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1923.79
Not on View
DescriptionThis core-formed unguent bottle, or alabastron, has an opaque white ground decorated with applied purple threads. It features a broad horizontal rim-disk with a slightly uneven upper surface, a short cylindrical neck, and a rounded shoulder. The body is nearly cylindrical with straight sides tapering upward and a shallow convex bottom, flat on one side. Two vertical ring handles with knobbed tails are attached just below the shoulder.
The decoration includes a partially preserved unmarvered thread at the rim edge and a second, marvered thread wound spirally from the neck, first in near-horizontal lines and then worked into a close-set zigzag pattern to the mid-body. A third thread, partly marvered, is wound horizontally twice around the body’s middle. Techniques include core-forming, tooling, and the application of marvered and unmarvered threads.
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. 67, p. 134.
Arts, P.L.W., "A Collection of Ancient Glass 500 BC - 500 AD," ANTIEK Lochem, 2000, p. 82.
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
6th-5th century BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
late 6th through 5th century BCE
Late 6th through 5th centuries BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
5th century BCE
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