Glass alabastron (perfume bottle)
Translucent cobalt blue, with handles in same color; trail in opaque white.
Inward-sloping irregular rim-disk with rounded edge and radiating tooling marks on upper surface; cylindrical neck, expanding downward; straight-sided fusiform body expanding downward, then tapering in to pointed bottom; two horizontal lug handles applied over trail at top of body.
Trail applied at bottom, wound upwards in a spiral to carination, tooled into a festoon around side, with twelve upward strokes, then wound again in a spiral up neck and partially around rim, and trailed off with backward swirl down neck.
Intact, but one handle completely missing; dulling, pitting, and faint iridescence.
Blue, with white wave pattern; two solid handles.
Inward-sloping irregular rim-disk with rounded edge and radiating tooling marks on upper surface; cylindrical neck, expanding downward; straight-sided fusiform body expanding downward, then tapering in to pointed bottom; two horizontal lug handles applied over trail at top of body.
Trail applied at bottom, wound upwards in a spiral to carination, tooled into a festoon around side, with twelve upward strokes, then wound again in a spiral up neck and partially around rim, and trailed off with backward swirl down neck.
Intact, but one handle completely missing; dulling, pitting, and faint iridescence.
Blue, with white wave pattern; two solid handles.
Artwork Details
- Title: Glass alabastron (perfume bottle)
- Period: Hellenistic
- Date: 2nd–mid-1st century BCE
- Culture: Greek, Eastern Mediterranean
- Medium: Glass; core-formed, Group III
- Dimensions: H.: 5 3/16 in. (13.1 cm)
- Classification: Glass
- Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
- Object Number: 17.194.579
- 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.