Perfumed oil bottle (unguentarium)
Date3rd century CE
Periodlate Roman Empire
Object GeographyMediterranean
CultureRoman
Geography NotesSaid to be from Cyprus
MediumGlass (free blown)
ClassificationGlass
ProvenanceFound by Luigi Palma di Cesnola (American Consul to Cyprus, 1865–1876; purchased by subscription by the Metropolitan Museum of Art 1874–1876; (sale, the Anderson Galleries, New York), March 30 or April 20, 1928; purchased by John Ringling; bequest to The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, 1936-present.
Credit LineBequest of John Ringling, 1936
Object numberSN28.1119
Tall bulbous perfumed oil containers were once called tear bottles because of their tear-drop shape and because some scholars thought that they were meant to contain mourners’ tears. Part of their beauty today stems from the way that the glass decays and takes on a patina of several iridescent colors.
On View
Not on viewDiameter (base): 1 7/16 in. (3.6 cm)
Diameter (rim): 1 1/16 in. (2.66 cm)
rim diameter: 1 1/16 in. (2.67-2.7 cm)
interior rim diameter: 11/16 in. (1.8 cm)
interior neck diameter: 3/8 in. (1.0 cm)
neck exterior diameter top: 11/16 in. (1.75-1.8 cm)
base diameter – edges not well defined: 1.0 in. (2.6 cm)
Medium Details
Color
Fabric: n/a
Inclusions
n/a
late 1st–mid-2nd century CE
3rd–5th century CE
late 1st–2nd century CE
4th to early 5th century CE
1st century BCE - 1st century CE
4th century CE
late 6th–5th century BCE
1st-4th century CE
4th–3rd century BCE