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Glass alabastron (perfume bottle)

5th century BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 156
Semi-translucent olive green, with handles in same color; trails in opaque yellow and opaque turquoise blue.
Broad horizontal rim-disk; cylindrical neck; narrow rounded shoulder; straight-sided cylindrical body; convex bottom; two large vertical ring handles with knobbed tails, applied over trail decoration.
A yellow trail attached at edge of rim-disk; another yellow trail applied to top of body together with a turquoise blue trail, overlaid on the yellow; both wound in a spiral around body, tooled into a close-set zigzag pattern with alternate upward and downward strokes, forming vertical ribs on sides; the turquoise blue trail ending in a circle on bottom.
Intact; some surface pitting, but very little weathering.

During the fifth century B.C., the colors of Mediterranean Group I vessels expanded from blue or opaque white to include dark green, golden brown, and opaque brick red.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Glass alabastron (perfume bottle)
  • Period: Classical
  • Date: 5th century BCE
  • Culture: Greek, Eastern Mediterranean
  • Medium: Glass; core-formed, Group I
  • Dimensions: H. 3 13/16 in. (9.7 cm)
  • Classification: Glass
  • Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.194.765
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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