Glass alabastron (perfume bottle)

Unknown

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

Translucent cobalt blue, with handles in same color; trails in opaque yellow and opaque turquoise blue. Broad, inward sloping rim-disk, with radiating tool marks on upper surface and uneven edge around mouth; short cylindrical neck with downward taper; narrow rounded shoulder; straight-sided cylindrical body, tapering upwards; 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 applied on underside of rim-disk and wound down in a spiral to middle of body, then tooled into a close-set zigzag pattern; a turquoise blue trail is added, mingling with yellow; immediately below zigzag, another yellow trail and another turquoise blue trail are wound horizontally once around body. Intact; dulling and milky 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