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Glass alabastron (perfume bottle)

2nd–1st century BCE
Not on view
Translucent light blue with greenish tinge; opaque white trails; handles of indeterminate color (blue?).
Uneven, coiled rim-disk with rounded outer lip; fusiform body, with uneven, misshapen sides, expanding downward, then tapering in to pointed bottom; two uneven lug handles applied at top of body over trail with horizontal tooling indents above and below.
Trail applied unevenly around rim and trailed off below; another trail attached near bottom, drawn up in a spiral to point of carination, tooled into an irregular feather pattern around side with six upward and five downward strokes, and wound round again in spiral ending below rim.
Intact; many bubbles; dulling, pitting, and faint iridescence.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Glass alabastron (perfume bottle)
  • Period: Late Hellenistic
  • Date: 2nd–1st century BCE
  • Culture: Greek, Eastern Mediterranean
  • Medium: Glass; core-formed, Group III
  • Dimensions: Overall: 5 7/16 x 1 1/2in. (13.8 x 3.9cm)
  • Classification: Glass
  • Credit Line: The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874–76
  • Object Number: 74.51.319
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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mid-4th–early 3rd century BCE
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