Glass alabastron (perfume bottle)

Unknown

2nd–1st century BCE · Glass · Greek and Roman Art

Translucent blue, with handles in light blue green; trail in opaque greyish light blue. Broad slightly inward-sloping rim-disk with thick rounded edge and radiating tooling marks on lower surface; tall cylindrical neck, expanding downward; straight-sided fusiform body expanding downward, then tapering in to pointed bottom; two horizontal lug handles applied over trail at top of body, one with a deep horizontal indent in surface; one small marvered blob of translucent blue on side just below point of greatest diameter. Trail applied at bottom, wound upwards in a spiral to carination, tooled into a close-set feather pattern around side, with fourteen alternating upward and downward strokes, then wound again in a spiral up neck and irregularly to top and edge of rim-disk. Intact, but some internal cracks around body; slight dulling, pitting, and patches of creamy weathering and iridescence.

Artist

Unknown

Date

2nd–1st century BCE

Medium

Glass

Culture

Greek, Eastern Mediterranean

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917