Unguent Bottle (Oinochoe)

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Unguent Bottle (Oinochoe)

Place of OriginEastern Mediterranean, possibly Rhodes

DateLate 6th through 5th centuries BCE

DimensionsH: 3 1/8 in. (7.9 cm); Rim Diam: 1 in. (2.5 cm); Max Diam of Body: 1 7/8 in. (4.8 cm); Base Diam: 7/8 in. (2.2 cm)

Mediumglass

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.180

Not on View

DescriptionThis small oinochoe has a blue ground decorated with opaque yellow (appearing orangish) and opaque turquoise-blue threads. It features a broad trefoil rim-disk, cylindrical neck, almost right-angled shoulder, and ovoid body. The foot is uneven and outsplayed, with a slight concavity on the underside and a small central hole. A strap handle of opaque blue arches from the shoulder to the rim-disk. An unmarvered opaque yellow thread is attached at the edge of the rim-disk. A second opaque yellow thread, marvered, begins on the shoulder and is wound in horizontal spirals, then tooled into a close-set zigzag pattern down to the mid-body. There, a marvered opaque turquoise-blue thread is introduced, intermingling with the yellow. Below this, a marvered opaque yellow thread is wound spirally twice around the lower body. An additional unmarvered opaque yellow thread is applied around the edge and underside of the foot. Manufactured using the core-forming technique, the vessel also includes an applied rim-disk, handle, and foot, as well as applied marvered and unmarvered threads, with tooling marks visible on the upperside of the foot.

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. 117, p. 150-151.