Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)
Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)
Place of OriginEastern Mediterranean or Italy
Date4th-3rd century BCE
DimensionsH: 5 3/8 in. (13.7 cm); Diam: 1 5/16 in. (4.1 cm); Max Diam of Body: 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm)
Mediumglass
ClassificationGlass
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1923.90
Not on View
DescriptionThis unguent bottle, or alabastron, is made of core-formed glass with a blue ground and decoration in opaque yellow and possibly opaque white (now obscured by weathering). It features a broad, slightly inward-sloping rim-disk, a tall cylindrical neck that tapers upward, and a cylindrical body with nearly straight sides that swell slightly at the middle. The shoulder is distinct and rounded, and the base is shallow and convex.
Two small blue lugs are applied just below the shoulder, each with a depression on its upper surface. An unmarvered opaque yellow thread is attached at the edge of the rim-disk. Below the shoulder, a second thread—yellow and possibly white—is marvered and wound in an irregular festoon pattern, transitioning into a feather pattern that extends to the basal angle. Additional rows of loosely executed festoons and wavy horizontal lines continue this decoration, which is arranged in vertical panels ending in indistinct loops.
This vessel was manufactured by core-forming, with applied marvered and unmarvered threads and lugs.
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. 134, p. 157.4th-3rd century BCE
4th-early 3rd century BCE
Mid-4th through early 3rd century BCE
Mid-4th through early 3rd centuries BCE
2nd through mid-1st century BCE
Mid-4th through early 3rd century BCE
Mid-4th through early 3rd centuries BCE
4th-3rd century BCE
mid 4th-early 3rd centuries BCE
Mid-fourth through early third centuries BCE
2nd through mid-1st century BCE
2nd through mid-1st century BCE
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