Glass aryballos (perfume bottle)

Unknown

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

Translucent cobalt blue, with same color handles; trails in opaque yellow and opaque turquoise blue. Broad inward-sloping rim-disk with uneven upper surface; short concave neck; uneven angular shoulder; almost spherical body; convex pointed bottom; two large ring handles with knobbed tails, applied over trail decoration, extend from shoulder to neck and underside of rim-disk. A yellow trail applied to outer edge of rim-disk; another yellow trail applied to outer edge of shoulder and wound down in spiral, at first in horizontal lines, then tooled into an irregular close-set zigzag pattern around central section of body, formed by uneven, shallow vertical tooling indents; a second trail in turquoise blue added to zigzag, mingling with the yellow trail; below, a yellow trail wound horizontally twice round body; a short unmarvered yellow trail applied to bottom. Intact, but some small internal cracks in side of 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