Object Description
A Roman marbled unguentarium featuring a pyriform body, slight constriction at the base of the cylindrical neck, everted folded rim and flattened base. A superbly made item featuring pale marbling of yellow and white glass.Unguentaria were perfume or cosmetics bottles made of blown glass. They are the most common items of Roman blown glass, equally used in everyday life or deposited as grave goods. This particular shape is one of the earliest dating in the first centuries of the Roman Empire. This vessel is special because of the colouring that is reminiscent of marble. Marble came in such variety of types and colours that even Pliny, the most famous ancient encyclopaedist, dwells on how this luxury material was flaunted.