Glass alabastron (perfume bottle)

Unknown

4th–3rd century BCE · Glass · Greek and Roman Art

Translucent cobalt blue, with handles in same color; trails in opaque yellow, opaque white, and opaque turquoise blue. Broad, slightly slanting and uneven horizontal rim-disk; tall cylindrical neck; narrow rounded shoulder; straight-sided cylindrical body, with slight upward taper; shallow convex bottom; below shoulder, two small lug handles applied over trail pattern, not placed directly opposite each other but both rather to one side. A fine yellow trail attached at edge of rim-disk; on body, bands of white, turquoise blue, and yellow trails, tooled from shoulder to undercurve at bottom into a close-set feather pattern in eight vertical patterns with alternating upward and downward strokes, with some of loops extending onto bottom. Broken and repaired around lower body, and one chip in rim-disk; slight pitting, dulling on bottom, and patches of iridescent weathering. With yellow lip, opaque blue, yellow and white feather pattern.

Artist

Unknown

Date

4th–3rd century BCE

Medium

Glass

Culture

Eastern Mediterranean or Italian

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917