ROMAN GLASS UNGUENTARIUM
Ca. 4th–5th century AD.
A glass unguentarium with a piriform body standing on an applied disc base featuring an everted mouth and applied handles that join the shoulder to the rim. The original light blue glass shines through in places and the patina that has formed over the glass displays patches of beautiful iridescence. Unguentaria, like alabastra in ancient Greece, were vessels used to store perfume or toilet oil in the Roman period. For a similar unguentarium, see https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-3912071, item n. 545.
Size: L:115mm / W:50mm ; 79.2g
Provenance: Private UK collection; From an old British collection formed in the 1990s;
Estimate: GBP 300 - 600