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 turquoise blue and opaque yellow. Broad inward-sloping oval rim-disk with radiating tooling marks on upper surface; cylindrical neck; almost horizontal shoulder; almost spherical body; convex, slightly pointed bottom; two ring handles with knobbed tails, applied over trail decoration, extend from shoulder to neck . A turquoise blue trail applied to outer edge of rim-disk; a broad yellow trail applied on upper body and wound down in spiral, at first in horizontal lines, then tooled into a close-set zigzag pattern around central section of body, formed by uneven vertical tooling indents; a second trail in turquoise blue added to zigzag, mingling with the yellow trail; below, a yellow trail and two turquoise blue trails wound horizontally once round body. Intact; dulling, pitting, and whitish iridescent weathering. Blue pomiform aryballos with green, yellow, and white lines and zigzags.

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