Unguent Bottle (Oinochoe)

Place of OriginEastern Mediterranean or Italy

DateMid-4th through early 3rd centuries BCE

DimensionsH: 5 1/16 in. (12.8 cm); Rim Diam: 1 9/16 in. (3.9 cm); Max Diam of Body: 2 5/8 in. (6.7 cm); Base Diam: 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm)

Mediumglass

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.136

Not on View

DescriptionOinochoe. Dark blue ground (appearing black) with white speckles, with opaque yellow and opaque white decoration. Broad trefoil rim-disk; cylindrical neck with slight downward taper; obtuse-angled junction with rounded shoulder; almost straight-sided cylindrical body with downward taper; circular dark blue pad-base, asymmetrical, uneven, and slightly concave on its underside. A vertical dark blue strap handle extends from the shoulder to the edge of the rim-disk; the handle arches above the rim-disk. An unmarvered opaque yellow thread attached at the edge of the rim-disk; a second unmarvered opaque yellow thread begun at the top of the neck and wound spirally in almost horizontal lines to below the middle of the neck; a third opaque yellow thread, marvered, begun on the shoulder and wound spirally, at first in a single wavy line, then tooled into several rows of festoons, and finally tooled into a feather pattern extending to the base; mingling with it in alternating bands, an opaque white thread, marvered, both threads ending in loops at the bottom; an unmarvered opaque yellow thread is wound around the edge of the pad-base. Core-formed; applied rim-disk, handle, and pad-base; applied marvered and unmarvered threads.

Published ReferencesHayes, John W., Roman and Pre-Roman Glass in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 1975, p. 12.

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. 148, p. 162.

Exhibition HistoryJohn Herron Art Institute, Indianapolis, IN, Glass Throughout History, exhibition, no. ex. cat., October-December, 1953.