Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)
Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)
Place of OriginEastern Mediterranean, possibly from Rhodes
DateLate sixth through fifth centuries BCE
DimensionsH: 3 15/16 in. (10 cm); Diam: 1 5/16 in. (3.3 cm); Max Diam of Body: 1 in. (2.6 cm)
Mediumglass
ClassificationGlass
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1923.127
Not on View
Description
This core-formed alabastron has a dark blue ground with decoration in opaque yellow (appearing orangish) and opaque turquoise-blue. It features a broad, uneven horizontal rim-disk, a short cylindrical neck, and a round-angled shoulder. The cylindrical body is uneven and slightly tapered, with a convex bottom that is nearly pointed and flat on one side. Two vertical dark blue ring handles with knobbed tails are attached below the shoulder.
Decoration includes an unmarvered opaque yellow thread attached at the edge of the rim-disk. A second opaque yellow thread, marvered, begins on the neck and is wound in nearly horizontal spirals, then tooled into a few zigzags to the mid-body, where it mingles with a wide marvered opaque turquoise-blue thread. A third unmarvered opaque yellow thread is wound horizontally three times around the lower body. The vessel was formed around a core and finished with applied threads and handles.
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. 72, pp. 135-136, Repr.
Late 6th through 5th century BCE
5th century BCE
Probably first half of 5th century BCE
about 350-300 BCE
5th century BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
5th century BCE
Mid-4th through early 3rd centuries BCE
Mid-4th through early 3rd century BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
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