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Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)

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Image Not Available for Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)
Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)
Image Not Available for Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)

Unguent Bottle (Alabastron)

Place of OriginEastern Mediterranean, possibly from Rhodes, Greece
DateLate sixth through fifth centuries BCE
DimensionsH: 3 11/16 in. (9.3 cm); Diam: 1 5/16 in. (3.3 cm); Max Diam of Body: 1 1/4 in (3.2 cm)
MediumCore-formed; applied rim-disk and handles; applied marvered and unmarvered threads.
ClassificationGlass
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1923.332
Not on View
DescriptionSmall alabastron with a blue ground and opaque yellow and opaque turquoise-blue decoration. The vessel features a broad horizontal rim-disk that is notably thin and uneven on both its upper and lower surfaces, a short cylindrical neck, and a rounded shoulder. The fairly broad body tapers upward and terminates in a convex bottom. Two vertical blue ring handles with knobbed tails are affixed below the shoulder. A turquoise-blue thread, not marvered, is attached at the edge of the rim-disk. An opaque yellow thread, marvered, begins on the neck and spirals downward, initially in nearly horizontal lines, then transitions into a tooled zigzag pattern at mid-body. At that point, a second opaque turquoise-blue thread is added and intertwines with the yellow. Below, a second narrow opaque yellow thread, also marvered, is wound twice horizontally around the body and ends in a loop.
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. 74, p. 136.

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