Glass amphoriskos (perfume bottle)

Unknown

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

Opaque white, with handles and base-knob in same color; trails in translucent purple. Broad, inward-sloping rim-disk, aslant to neck; cylindrical neck with concave sides; broad sloping shoulder; elongated ovoid body tapering to a point; circular base-knob with rounded edge; two vertical strap handles applied over trails, drawn up from top of shoulder, turned in, and pressed on to neck. One trail attached at edge of rim-disk; another trail applied at base of neck, wound round in a spiral on shoulder, then tooled into a close-set zigzag pattern on upper half of body; below this, another thinner trail wound round twice horizontally; a third fine trail around bottom edge of base-knob. Complete, except for weathered chip in rim-disk; dulling, pitting, faint iridescence, and most of body covered with creamy iridescent weathering.

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