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Glass alabastron

2nd–1st century BCE
Not on view
Translucent cobalt blue, appearing black; opaque white trail.
Two conjoining fragments of straight-sided fusiform body expanding downward, then tapering in to bottom.
Single white trail wound in a spiral around body and tooled into a festoon pattern with sixteen upward strokes, continuing in a plain spiral in two turns around lower part of body; another white trail applied vertically below, drawn up and then round in a downward spiral in five turns ending around bottom.
Broken with weathered edges on both fragments, missing rim, neck, bottom, and handles; dulling, pitting, and iridescent weathering. Thin coating a red core material on interior.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Glass alabastron
  • Period: Late Hellenistic
  • Date: 2nd–1st century BCE
  • Culture: Greek
  • Medium: Glass; core-formed, Group III
  • Dimensions: H. 3 3/4 × Dia. 1 11/16 in. (9.5 × 4.3 cm)
  • Classification: Glass
  • Credit Line: The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874–76
  • Object Number: 74.51.6716
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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Glass alabastron (perfume bottle)
Greek, Eastern Mediterranean
2nd–mid-1st century BCE
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Glass alabastron (perfume bottle)
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5th century BCE
Glass alabastron (perfume bottle), Glass, Greek, Eastern Mediterranean
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