Unguent Bottle (Amphoriskos)
Unguent Bottle (Amphoriskos)
Place of OriginEastern Mediterranean or Italy
DateMid-4th through early 3rd centuries BCE
DimensionsH: 2 3/4 in. (7 cm); Diam: 13/16 in. (2 cm); Max Diam of Body: 1 13/16 in. (4.6 cm)
Mediumglass
ClassificationGlass
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1923.182
Not on View
DescriptionThis small amphoriskos has a cobalt-blue ground with decoration in opaque white. It features a moderately broad horizontal rim-disk with a rounded edge, a cylindrical neck with a slight bulge at its middle, and a distinctly right-angled junction with a rounded shoulder. The body is top-shaped and terminates in a pointed convex bottom. A cobalt-blue base-knob with an uneven, rounded edge forms the foot. Two vertical cobalt-blue strap handles extend from the shoulder to just below the rim-disk.
A marvered opaque white thread begins on the shoulder and is wound spirally in a few horizontal lines before being tooled into a close-set zigzag pattern around the middle of the body. Below this, the thread continues in wavy horizontal lines to the bottom.
The vessel was manufactured using the core-forming technique. It includes an applied rim-disk, handles, and base-knob, as well as applied marvered and unmarvered threads. Tooling marks are visible on the base-knob.
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. 142, p. 159.
Mid-4th through early 3rd century BCE
3rd century BCE
5th century BCE
2nd through mid-1st century BCE
Probably first half of fifth century BCE
Late 6th - 5th century BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
3rd century BCE
2nd through mid-1st century BCE
Late sixth to fifth centuries BCE
2nd through mid-1st century BCE
6th-5th century BCE
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