Glass alabastron (perfume bottle)

2nd–mid-1st century BCE
Not on view
Translucent light blue; opaque yellow trail; handles in blue glass.
Everted, almost flat, rim-disk; slender, concave neck; straight-sided fusiform body expanding downward, then tapering in to pointed bottom; two horizontal lug handles applied over trails at top of body.
Trail attached at bottom, drawn up in a spiral to point of carination, tooled into a close-set feather pattern around side, arranged in six panels of alternating upward and downward strokes, and wound round again in spiral ending on rim.
Broken and repaired around body with some areas missing, and only vestigial traces of one handle remaining; a few bubbles; dulling, pitting, and iridescent weathering.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Glass alabastron (perfume bottle)
  • Period: Late Hellenistic
  • Date: 2nd–mid-1st century BCE
  • Culture: Greek, Eastern Mediterranean
  • Medium: Glass; core-formed, Group III
  • Dimensions: Overall: 5 3/16 x 1 5/8in. (13.2 x 4.1cm)
  • Classification: Glass
  • Credit Line: The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874–76
  • Object Number: 74.51.322
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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