Glass aryballos (perfume bottle)

late 6th–5th century BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 154
Translucent dark cobalt blue, with handles in opaque turquoise blue; trails in opaque turquoise blue and opaque yellow.

Thick inward-sloping rim-disk; short cylindrical neck; almost horizontal sloping shoulder; sperical body; convex, slightly pointed bottom; two vertical ring handles with knobbed tails extend from shoulder to underside of rim-disk.
Turquoise blue trail applied to outer edge of rim-disk; a yellow trail applied to outer edge of shoulder and wound spirally, at first in four horizontal lines, then tooled into a zigzag pattern around central section of body, formed by shallow vertical tooling indents, where a turquoise blue trail is added, mingling with the yellow; below this, a yellow trail and a turquoise blue trail wound once around body.
Intact; slight dulling and pitting, and small patches of iridescent milky weathering on rim, neck, and handles.

Glass vessels such as these first appeared in the Greek world late in the sixth century B.C. They originally contained perfumes or scented oils used in funerary rites, after which the bottles were left in the grave.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Glass aryballos (perfume bottle)
  • Period: Classical
  • Date: late 6th–5th century BCE
  • Culture: Greek, Eastern Mediterranean
  • Medium: Glass; core-formed, Group I
  • Dimensions: H. 2 3/8 in. (6 cm)
  • Classification: Glass
  • Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.194.791
  • 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.