Glass alabastron (perfume bottle)

Unknown

late 4th–early 3rd century BCE · Glass · Greek and Roman Art

Translucent cobalt blue, with handles in same color; trails in opaque yellow, opaque white, and opaque turquoise blue. Broad horizontal rim-disk, with radiating tooling marks on upper and lower surfaces; cylindrical neck, tapering upward; shallow, uneven shoulder; straight-sided cylindrical body, with slight upward taper and slightly uneven surface; convex, slightly pointed bottom; below shoulder, two irregular trailed knob handles, applied over trail pattern. A fine yellow trail attached at edge of rim-disk; on body, alternating bands of yellow, white, and turquoise blue, tooled from shoulder to undercurve at bottom into a close-set feather pattern in seven vertical patterns with alternating upward and downward strokes. Intact, except for small internal cracks on bottom; some of trails completely weathered, leaving only impressions in sides of body; many tiny white inclusions; some pitting and small areas of iridescent weathering.

Artist

Unknown

Date

late 4th–early 3rd century BCE

Medium

Glass

Culture

Eastern Mediterranean or South Italian

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915