Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)
Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)
Place of OriginEastern Mediterranean or Italy
Date4th-3rd century BCE
DimensionsH: 3 7/16 in. (8.7 cm); Diam: 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm); Max Diam of Body: 1 1/16 in. (2.7 cm)
Mediumglass
ClassificationGlass
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1923.174
Not on View
DescriptionThis small alabastron has a blue ground with opaque yellow decoration. It features a broad horizontal rim-disk, a short cylindrical neck, and a narrow, obtuse-angled shoulder. The cylindrical body tapers upward and ends in a shallow, slightly convex bottom. Two vertical blue ring handles, both unpierced, are set just below the shoulder.
An unmarvered opaque yellow thread is attached at the edge of the rim-disk. A second opaque yellow thread, marvered, is applied beginning on the neck and tooled into a shallow, close-set zigzag pattern that continues to the basal angle.
Manufactured using the core-forming technique, the vessel also includes applied rim-disk and handles, as well as applied marvered and unmarvered threads.
Published ReferencesHayes, John W., Roman and Pre-Roman Glass in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 1975, pp. 9-10.
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. 139, p. 158.
Late 6th - 5th century BCE
Mid-4th through early 3rd centuries BCE
Late 6th - 5th century BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
5th through early 4th centuries BCE
4th-3rd century BCE
Mid-4th through early 3rd centuries BCE
5th century BCE
Mid-4th through early 3rd century BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
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