Glass gold-band mosaic alabastron (perfume bottle)

Greek, Eastern Mediterranean

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 163

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.

Glass gold-band mosaic alabastron (perfume bottle), Glass, Greek, Eastern Mediterranean

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.