Glass amphoriskos (perfume bottle)

Unknown

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

Opaque white, with handles and knob-base in same color; trails in translucent purple. Broad, inward-sloping oval rim-disk with radiating tool marks on upper surface and small mouth; tall cylindrical neck tapering upward; broad, sloping shoulder; elongated ovoid body tapering to a point; slanting circular base-knob with rounded edge and flat bottom; two vertical strap handles applied at top of shoulder, drawn up vertically, turned in, and pressed on to underside of rim-disk and top of neck. One uneven trail attached at edge of rim-disk; another trail wound round in an uneven spiral on shoulder, then tooled into a zigzag pattern on upper body, with twenty-two deep vertical tooling indents; a third trail applied to lower body, also tooled into an irregular zigzag pattern; finally, a fourth trail applied around edge and underside of knob-base. Complete, but part of rim-disk broken and repaired, leaving one large chip and smaller hole; internal cracks in body; dulling, pitting, and faint iridescence.

Artist

Unknown

Date

late 6th–5th century BCE

Medium

Glass

Culture

Greek, Eastern Mediterranean

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891