Unguent Bottle (Amphoriskos)
Unguent Bottle (Amphoriskos)
Place of OriginEastern Mediterranean, Possibly Syria or Palestine
Date2nd through mid-1st century BCE
DimensionsH: 5 7/8 in. (15 cm); Diam: 1 1/16 in. (2.7 cm); Max Diam of Body: 1 3/4 in. (4.5 cm)
Mediumglass
ClassificationGlass
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1923.99
Not on View
DescriptionThis amphoriskos has a light blue ground with opaque yellow and opaque white decoration. It features a narrow, uneven, inward-sloping rim-disk and a tall cylindrical neck that tapers downward. The shoulder is straight and forms an obtuse angle with the neck. The vessel has a rather narrow ovoid body and a convex pointed bottom. A short, spherical golden-yellow base-knob with a rounded end is attached beneath.
A vertical golden-yellow strap handle—along with vestiges of a second—extends from the shoulder to the upper neck and rises to the rim-disk. An opaque yellow and an opaque white thread, both partly marvered, are attached at the edge of the rim-disk and wound spirally in horizontal lines around the neck and shoulder. These threads mingle and are tooled into a close-set festoon pattern over the body, ending in a few horizontal lines just above the base-knob. The vessel is core-formed, with applied rim-disk, handles, and base-knob, and features applied partly marvered 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. 174, p. 171-172.
Arts, P.L.W., "A Collection of Ancient Glass 500 BC - 500 AD," ANTIEK Lochem, 2000, p. 85.
2nd through mid-1st century BCE
Late sixth to fifth centuries BCE
2nd-1st century BCE
3rd century BCE
3rd century BCE
5th century BCE
5th century BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
Late 6th - 5th century BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
Probably first half of fifth century BCE
2nd through mid-1st century BCE
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