Glass alabastron (perfume bottle)

Unknown

late 6th–5th century BCE · Glass · Greek and Roman Art

Opaque white, with handles in same color; trails in translucent purple. Broad rim-disk, with radiating tools marks on upper surface and small mouth; short cylindrical neck; narrow sloping shoulder; straight-sided body with upward taper; convex bottom; below shoulder, two vertical ring handles with knobbed tails applied over trail decoration. One trail attached at edge of rim-disk; another applied as an irregular loop over neck and top of body and wound down in spiral six times, then tooled into a close-set zigzag pattern around middle of body; below this, a third fine trail wound twice horizontally around body. Intact, apart from minor chips in trail on rim-disk; slight dulling and pitting, and most of body covered with creamy iridescent weathering.

Artist

Unknown

Date

late 6th–5th century BCE

Medium

Glass

Culture

Greek, Eastern Mediterranean

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Gift of Henry G. Marquand, 1881