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; short cylindrical neck, tapering downwards; right-angled shoulder; almost spherical body; convex, somewhat pointed bottom; two vertical ring handles with knobbed tails, applied over trail decoration, extend from shoulder to underside of rim-disk. Yellow trail applied to outer edge of rim-disk; another yellow trail applied on upper body and wound spirally, at first in horizontal lines, then tooled into a close-set zigzag pattern around central section of body, formed by shallow vertical tooling indents; two thick turquoise blue trails applied over yellow, forming a bold, even design; below this, a single yellow trail wound horizontally around body; a turquoise blue trail applied along outer edge of one handle. Broken and repaired on rim, neck, and shoulder, with part of rim-disk, neck, and one handle missing; slight dulling and pitting, and small patches of iridescent milky weathering on rim, neck, and handles.

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