Glass alabastron (perfume bottle)

Unknown

5th century BCE · Glass · Greek and Roman Art

Semi-translucent olive green, with handles in same color; trails in opaque yellow and opaque turquoise blue. Broad horizontal rim-disk; cylindrical neck; narrow rounded shoulder; straight-sided cylindrical body; convex bottom; two large vertical ring handles with knobbed tails, applied over trail decoration. A yellow trail attached at edge of rim-disk; another yellow trail applied to top of body together with a turquoise blue trail, overlaid on the yellow; both wound in a spiral around body, tooled into a close-set zigzag pattern with alternate upward and downward strokes, forming vertical ribs on sides; the turquoise blue trail ending in a circle on bottom. Intact; some surface pitting, but very little weathering. During the fifth century B.C., the colors of Mediterranean Group I vessels expanded from blue or opaque white to include dark green, golden brown, and opaque brick red.

Artist

Unknown

Date

5th century BCE

Medium

Glass

Culture

Greek, Eastern Mediterranean

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917