Published: May 15, 2018 • By Nora I. Moriarty and Debby Sneed
Photograph of clear glass vessel with rounded body and base and short neck that flares to a rounded mouth, from the side against a neutral gray background.

Catalogue Entry

From the Catalogue of听Ancient Glass in the University of Colorado Museum

Gift of H. Medill Sarkisian and Justine Sarkisian Rodriguez (1979)
听(2008)
Height: 5.6听cm
Diameter (max.):听4.8 cm
Roman, 3rd century C.E.

Classification:听Isings Form 26a;听Harden Fabric 3

Description: Wide mouth with rounded rim folded in. Relatively short neck with concave profile and smooth transition to globular body. Flattened base. Clear with bluish-green tint.听听and flaking. Blown.

Comment:听Six similar specimens are in the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto (Hayes 1975, nos. 271, 272, 291, 294, 323 and 474). See also Goldman 1950, no. 25;听Isings 1971, no. 241 (at Heerlen);听Whitehouse 1997, nos. 286 and 289;听and Whitehouse 1998, no. 94.

Discussion

This glass bottle is a more bulbous, squatter version of the other unguentaria in听CU's collection听of Roman glass. It is globular听and lacks the long neck which characterizes the others. There are some similar examples of this shape in the听Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.听

An unguentarium was used to hold scented oil, perfume, or body lotion used by both men and women. These cosmetics were applied as soon as one awoke, then again after they bathed during the day at the local bathhouse. The most popular scents were saffron, marjoram, and roses, according to听, a 1st century C.E. Roman author (). Inscriptions from ancient towns such as听Pozzuoli听indicate that the perfume-makers were usually in the same district as the glassworkers, suggesting that craftworkers听realized the efficiency of being near a business they were closely connected to (1).

Footnotes

  1. Stuart J. Fleming,听Roman Glass: Reflections of Everyday Life听(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum, 1997): 28-31.

References

  • Goldman, H.听Excavations at G枚zl眉 Kule, Tarsus I: The Hellenistic and Roman Period.听Princeton,: Princeton University Press, 1950.
  • Hayes, J. W.听Roman and Pre-Roman Glass in the Royal Ontario Museum.听罢辞谤辞苍迟辞:听1975.
  • Isings, C.听Roman Glass in Limburg.听Groningen: Wolters-Noordhoff Publishing, 1971.
  • Whitehouse, D.听Roman Glass in the Corning Museum of Glass, v. 1.听Corning, NY: Corning Museum of Glass, 1997.
  • Whitehouse, D.听The University of Ghent South-East Arabian Archaeological Project: Excavations at ed-Dur,听v. 1: The Glass Vessels.听Leuven: Peeters, 1998.
Categories: