Glass alabastron (perfume bottle)
Translucent cobalt blue, with handles in same color; trails in opaque yellow, opaque white, and opaque turquoise blue.
Broad rim-disk, formed as a coil with slightly sloping upper surface; cylindrical neck, tapering downward; narrow angular shoulder; straight-sided cylindrical body, with slight upward taper and slightly uneven surface; convex bottom; below shoulder, two vertical ring handles, with trailing tails, applied over trail pattern.
A fine yellow trail attached at edge of rim-disk and wound round twice; on body, alternating bands of yellow, white, and turquoise blue, tooled from shoulder to undercurve at bottom into a close-set feather pattern in eight vertical patterns with alternating upward and downward strokes, forming rounded loops at top and bottom.
Intact, except for small weathered chip in rim-disk; dulling, pitting, and large areas of iridescent weathering, with some small patches of limy and black encrustation.
Broad rim-disk, formed as a coil with slightly sloping upper surface; cylindrical neck, tapering downward; narrow angular shoulder; straight-sided cylindrical body, with slight upward taper and slightly uneven surface; convex bottom; below shoulder, two vertical ring handles, with trailing tails, applied over trail pattern.
A fine yellow trail attached at edge of rim-disk and wound round twice; on body, alternating bands of yellow, white, and turquoise blue, tooled from shoulder to undercurve at bottom into a close-set feather pattern in eight vertical patterns with alternating upward and downward strokes, forming rounded loops at top and bottom.
Intact, except for small weathered chip in rim-disk; dulling, pitting, and large areas of iridescent weathering, with some small patches of limy and black encrustation.
Artwork Details
- Title: Glass alabastron (perfume bottle)
- Period: Early Hellenistic
- Date: late 4th–early 3rd century BCE
- Culture: Eastern Mediterranean or South Italian
- Medium: Glass; core-formed, Group II
- Dimensions: H.: 6 15/16 in. (17.6 cm)
- Classification: Glass
- Credit Line: Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915
- Object Number: 30.115.34
- Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art
More Artwork
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.