Glass alabastron (perfume bottle)

Unknown

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

Translucent cobalt blue, with handles in opaque turquoise blue; trails in opaque yellow and opaque turquoise blue. Broad horizontal rim-disk, with radiating tooling marks on upper surface; short cylindrical neck; rounded shoulder; elongated ovoid body, tapering upward to pointed bottom, with maximum diameter below the middle; convex bottom; two vertical ring handles with knobbed tails, applied over trail decoration. Turquoise blue trail attached at edge of rim-disk; a yellow trail wound horizontally around top of body; a band comprising a yellow and a turquoise blue trail wound horizontally around body underneath handles, and a second band comprising two yellow trails flanking a turquoise blue trail wound horizontally around body at point of greatest diameter. Intact, except for most of one handle; slight dulling and 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

Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917