Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)
Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)
Place of OriginEastern Mediterranean or Italy
Date4th-3rd century BCE
DimensionsH: 6 7/16 in. (16.4 cm); Rim Diam: 7/8 in. (2.2 cm); Max Diam of Body: 1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm)
Mediumglass
ClassificationGlass
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1923.94
Not on View
DescriptionThis tall unguent bottle (alabastron) has an opaque gray ground with decoration in opaque white and opaque yellow. Only traces of the cylindrical neck remain. The vessel features a distinct right-angled shoulder, a straight-sided cylindrical body that tapers upward, and a convex bottom that is nearly flat at its center. Below the shoulder are two vertical ring handles made from the same opaque gray glass as the body—one pierced, the other unpierced.
A marvered opaque yellow thread begins on the shoulder and is wound twice in wavy horizontal lines. Below this, a marvered opaque white thread is added, and the two threads are tooled into a feather pattern arranged in eight vertical panels, each terminating in a loop near the base. A final wavy line in opaque white is applied around the lower body. A marvered opaque yellow dot decorates the center of the bottom. The bottle is core-formed, with applied handles, marvered threads, and a decorative dot. Tooling marks are visible on the body.
Published ReferencesHayes, John W., Roman and Pre-Roman Glass in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 1975, p. 13.
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. 126, p. 154.
Late 6th through 5th centuries BCE
Late 6th through 5th centuries BCE
Mid-4th through early third centuries BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
late 6th through 5th century BCE
2nd through mid-1st century BCE
Mid-4th through early 3rd century BCE
Mid-4th through early 3rd centuries BCE
3rd century BCE
Mid-4th through early 3rd centuries BCE
4th-3rd century BCE
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