Ave!

Glass Bottle, Roman, Unguentarium, Candlestick, ca. 1st-3rd Cent AD

Glass; 85mm/6.8gm 

Con/ Complete and intact, iridescence, light deposits.

Description/ Free-blown, transparent pale aquamarine, squat piriform body; long cylindrical neck wider at the mouth and tapering to the body, no constriction; rim everted, folded in, and flattened; rounded bottom.

Seller's Note/ An unguentarium was a small, general purpose bottle, more often than not without handles. These commonly used vessels were used to hold unguents, scented oils, cosmetics, pigments, salves, medicines and dried herbs. An unguent is a soothing topical preparation spread on wounds, burns, rashes, abrasions or other topical injuries. It is similar to an ointment, though typically an unguent is less viscous and more oily. It is usually delivered as a semi-solid paste spread on the skin and is often oily to suspend the medication or other active ingredients.

The iridescence in our example is truly magnificent. In sunlight, every way you turn it, you'll discover a myriad of rainbow colors.

The largest glass manufacturing centers in the eastern Mediterranean were Alexandria and Sidon, where glass blowing was invented. Among the many references to glass in Jewish literature, there is one that mentions the glass-industry at Tiberias - Palestinian Talmud, Niddah Chap. II, Halalah 7.