# Aryballos (Container for Oil) with Chain

- By: Ancient Roman (now Israel)
- Date: late 1st-2nd century
- Medium: Glass, blown technique, and bronze
- Classification: Vessel
- Dimensions: 7.4 × 7.5 × 7.5 cm (2 7/8 × 3 × 3 in.)
- Culture: Syria
- Credit line: Gift of Theodore W. and Frances S. Robinson
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/62022)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/43bca51f-d87c-5b08-7f2f-394a74abe5c8/full/!1464,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Vessels of this sort were used to hold cosmetic oil and were standard accessories for Roman bathing. The bronze chains looped around the user's wrist. In the absence of soap, oil was rubbed onto the skin, and then scraped off with a strigil, an instrument with a curved, blunt blade.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0