Glass alabastron (perfume bottle)

Unknown

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

Translucent cobalt blue, with handles in same color; trails in opaque yellow and opaque pale turquoise blue. Broad uneven rim-disk with radiating tooling marks on upper surface; short, funnel-shaped neck; rounded shoulder; elongated oval body with upward taper; convex bottom; below shoulder, two vertical ring handles with knobbed tails, applied over trails. One yellow trail attached at edge of rim-disk; another applied on shoulder and wound down in spiral on upper part of body, where a second broader trail in turquoise blue is added, mingling with the first, then both tooled into a close-set zigzag pattern around middle of body, formed by uneven shallow vertical tooling indents; below this, another broad turquoise blue trail wound unevenly around lower part of body. Complete except for part of rim-disk, with cracks around body; dulling, pitting, slight iridescence, and milky weathering.

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