Glass amphoriskos (perfume bottle)

late 6th–5th century BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 157
Translucent blue, with handles in same color; trails in opaque yellow and opaque turquoise blue.
Broad inward-sloping rim-disk; cylindrical neck; broad sloping shoulder; top-shaped body; circular base-knob with deep indent on bottom; two vertical strap handles applied to shoulder, drawn up, and pressed onto neck.
A yellow trail attached at edge of rim-disk; another yellow trail applied in a thick irregular circle around neck and top of shoulder, wound in a spiral across shoulder and around top of body, then tooled into an uneven zigzag pattern on upper half of body, where a turquoise blue trail is added, mingling with the yellow, forming vertical ridges in sides; below, a fine yellow trail wound horizontally nearly twice around lower body; a turquoise blue trail and a yellow trail wound around base-knob.
Intact; bubbles and gritty white impurities; slight dulling and pitting, but very little weathering.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Glass amphoriskos (perfume bottle)
  • Period: Classical
  • Date: late 6th–5th century BCE
  • Culture: Greek, Eastern Mediterranean
  • Medium: Glass; core-formed, Group I
  • Dimensions: 3 1/16 × 1 13/16 in. (7.8 × 4.7 cm)
    Diam. of rim: 1 1/16 in. (2.6 cm)
    Diam. of foot: 1/2 in. (1.3 cm)
  • Classification: Glass
  • Credit Line: Gift of Henry G. Marquand, 1881
  • Object Number: 81.10.344
  • 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.