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.Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
Mid-4th through early 3rd centuries BCE
Mid-4th to early 3rd century BCE
Mid-4th through early third centuries BCE
2nd through mid-1st century BCE
New Kingdom, late 18th or 19th Dynasty, about 1400-1225 BCE
Late sixth through fifth centuries BCE
3rd through 2nd century BCE
3rd century BCE
3rd century BCE
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