Unguent Bottle (Oinochoe)

Place of OriginEastern Mediterranean, possibly Rhodes

DateLate 6th through 5th century BCE

DimensionsH: 3 1/8 in. (7.9 cm); Rim Diam: 1 5/16 in. (3.3 cm); Max Diam of Body: 1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm); Base Diam: 7/8 in. (2.2 cm)

Mediumglass

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.160

Not on View

DescriptionThis small core-formed oinochoe has an opaque white ground with purple decoration. The vessel features a broad trefoil rim-disk, cylindrical neck, obtuse-angled shoulder, and an almost spherical body set on a slightly concave, outsplayed foot that is off-center. A single opaque white strap handle arches from the shoulder to the rim. An unmarvered purple thread is attached at the edge of the rim-disk. A second purple thread, marvered, begins on the shoulder and spirals in horizontal lines before being tooled into a zigzag pattern around the middle of the body. Below this, a third marvered purple thread is wound horizontally twice around the lower body. A fourth unmarvered purple thread encircles the edge of the foot. Manufactured using the core-forming technique, the vessel also includes applied rim-disk, handle, foot, and applied marvered and unmarvered 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. 113, p. 149.