Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)
Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)
Place of OriginEastern Mediterranean
DateMid-4th through early 3rd century BCE
DimensionsH: 5 1/8 in. (13 cm); Diam: 1 1/4 in. (3.1 cm); Max Diam of Body: 1 1/8 in. (2.8 cm)
Mediumglass
ClassificationGlass
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1923.133
Not on View
DescriptionThis core-formed alabastron has a cobalt-blue ground with opaque yellow and opaque light blue decoration. It features a moderately broad, uneven horizontal rim-disk that slopes slightly outward, a wide and rather tall cylindrical neck, and a short, sharply angled shoulder with a constriction at the neck. The cylindrical body is narrow and straight-sided, tapering slightly toward a convex base.
Two cobalt-blue circular lugs are set on the upper body, each with a deep depression and oriented in opposite directions. An unmarvered opaque yellow thread is attached at the rim. A marvered opaque yellow and a marvered opaque light blue thread begin on the shoulder and are wound spirally in a wavy line, then tooled into alternating bands of a widely spaced feather pattern that extends to the basal angle. The vessel was made using the core-forming technique, with applied and unmarvered threads, lugs, and 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. 136, p. 157.
4th-early 3rd century BCE
4th-3rd century BCE
4th-3rd century BCE
4th-3rd century BCE
Mid-4th through early 3rd century BCE
2nd through mid-1st century BCE
mid 4th-early 3rd centuries BCE
2nd through mid-1st century BCE
Mid-fourth through early third centuries BCE
Mid-4th through early 3rd centuries BCE
Mid-4th through early 3rd centuries BCE
Mid-4th through early 3rd centuries BCE
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