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 white. Horizontal rim-disk, with thick rounded edge; tall cylindrical neck, tapering upwards; rounded shoulder; straight-sided cylindrical body, curving in to convex bottom with slightly pointed tip. A trail attached at edge of rim-disk; on body, a single trail wound down in a spiral, forming five horizontal bands, at top and bottom as almost horizontal lines but on most of body tooled into a close-set zigzag pattern with alternating upward and downward strokes forming shallow vertical ribs. Complete but most of trail on rim-disk missing; some dulling, pitting, and faint iridescent weathering.

Artist

Unknown

Date

late 4th–early 3rd century BCE

Medium

Glass

Culture

Greek, Eastern Mediterranean

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

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