Art Institute of Chicago
Alabastron (Container for Scented Oil)
Ancient Mediterranean; Alexandria, EgyptLinkedCulture matchlcp-e54c803f7411
- Date
- 6th-4th century BCE
- Medium
- Glass, core-formed technique
- Culture
- Mediterranean Region
- Department
- Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Object ID
- 67491
From the Art Institute of Chicago record
Initially affordable only among the wealthy, glass was used in ancient Rome as containers for oils, perfume, and tablewares. In the ancient Mediterranean world, scented oils, usually olive oil based, were generally used rather than alcohol-based perfumes. This vessel is called an “alabastron” because objects of this shape were originally made of alabaster. Core-formed glass was made by dipping a removable core that gives the vessel its shape into a molten glass mixture. The pattern was created by trailing threads of glass mixture of different colors over the body of the vessel, then combing the threads with a pointed tool.
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Provenance & credit
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- Credit line
- Gift of Theodore W. and Frances S. Robinson
- Provenance
- Found near Alexandria, Egypt; Azeez Khayat (1875-1943), New York; sold to Theodore W. and Frances S. Robinson, Chicago, 1928 [all previous information supported by correspondences in curatorial file]; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1949.
Linked open data
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- Object type
- AAT300193015
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