Glass gold-band mosaic alabastron (perfume bottle)
Translucent cobalt blue, colorless, translucent turquoise blue, translucent honey brown, opaque white, and gold leaf.
Plain vertical rim, ground flat on top edge; recessed band below to receive neck and rim attachment; biconical body, expanding downwards to midway point, then slanting in to pointed bottom.
Gold-band mosaic pattern formed from serpentine lengths of two different canes in combinations of blue and turquoise outlined in white, with one having a band in brown backed with white, the other having a band in colorless encasing shattered gold leaf. The gold-band canes are repeated twice over the body.
Broken and repaired, with areas on fill around upper half of body; slight dulling, pitting of surface bubbles, faint iridescent weathering on body, and thick creamy weathering on rim, recessed band, and interior.
This is an unusually large gold-band alabastron with a rare pointed shape. Attached to the top was a detachable neck piece or stopper that is now lost. The neck piece had a broad, flat rim and was usually made in a different monochrome glass. A complete example can be seen in the Hellenistic Treasury.
Plain vertical rim, ground flat on top edge; recessed band below to receive neck and rim attachment; biconical body, expanding downwards to midway point, then slanting in to pointed bottom.
Gold-band mosaic pattern formed from serpentine lengths of two different canes in combinations of blue and turquoise outlined in white, with one having a band in brown backed with white, the other having a band in colorless encasing shattered gold leaf. The gold-band canes are repeated twice over the body.
Broken and repaired, with areas on fill around upper half of body; slight dulling, pitting of surface bubbles, faint iridescent weathering on body, and thick creamy weathering on rim, recessed band, and interior.
This is an unusually large gold-band alabastron with a rare pointed shape. Attached to the top was a detachable neck piece or stopper that is now lost. The neck piece had a broad, flat rim and was usually made in a different monochrome glass. A complete example can be seen in the Hellenistic Treasury.
Artwork Details
- Title: Glass gold-band mosaic alabastron (perfume bottle)
- Period: Hellenistic
- Date: 1st century BCE
- Culture: Greek, Eastern Mediterranean
- Medium: Glass; cast, probably around a rod
- Dimensions: H.: 8 3/8 in. (21.3 cm)
- Classification: Glass
- Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
- Object Number: 17.194.285
- Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art
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mid-6th century BCE
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ca. 323/2–315 BCE
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ca. 200 BCE
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ca. 300 BCE
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ca. 330–300 BCE
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