Glass amphoriskos (perfume bottle)

Unknown

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

Translucent blue, with handles in same color; trails in opaque yellow and opaque turquoise blue. Broad inward-sloping rim-disk; cylindrical neck; broad sloping shoulder; top-shaped body; circular base-knob with deep indent on bottom; two vertical strap handles applied to shoulder, drawn up, and pressed onto neck. A yellow trail attached at edge of rim-disk; another yellow trail applied in a thick irregular circle around neck and top of shoulder, wound in a spiral across shoulder and around top of body, then tooled into an uneven zigzag pattern on upper half of body, where a turquoise blue trail is added, mingling with the yellow, forming vertical ridges in sides; below, a fine yellow trail wound horizontally nearly twice around lower body; a turquoise blue trail and a yellow trail wound around base-knob. Intact; bubbles and gritty white impurities; slight dulling and pitting, but very little 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