Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)
Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)
Place of OriginEastern Mediterranean
DateProbably sixth century, BCE, possibly later
DimensionsH: 4 9/16 in. (11.6 cm); Diam: 1 5/16 in. (3.3 cm); Rim Diam: 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm); Max Diam of Body: 1 3/8 in. (3.4 cm)
Mediumglass
ClassificationGlass
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1923.104
Not on View
DescriptionThis core-formed unguent bottle has a blue ground and features a thick, broad horizontal rim-disk that slopes slightly outward and has a rounded edge. The neck is short and cylindrical with a pronounced bulge at the center. The vessel has a rounded shoulder and a straight-sided body that tapers noticeably upward, ending in a shallow, slightly convex bottom. Two unpierced vertical blue lugs are applied to the upper body; one has a visible side depression while the other appears as two merged blobs of glass. The bottle is undecorated, with tooling marks visible on both surfaces of the rim-disk.
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. 30, p. 85.
Mid-4th through early 3rd centuries BCE
4th-early 3rd century BCE
4th-3rd century BCE
Mid-4th through early 3rd century BCE
mid 4th-early 3rd centuries BCE
Mid-4th through early 3rd centuries BCE
4th-3rd century BCE
4th-3rd century BCE
late 6th through 5th century BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
about 2nd century BCE
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