Amphoriskos (Container for Oil)
6th-5th century BCE
- Medium
- Glass
- Classification
- Vessel
- Dimensions
- 5.7 × 2.9 × 2.5 cm (2 1/4 × 1 1/8 × 1 in.)
- Culture
- Mediterranean Region
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
- Credit line
- Gift of Theodore W. and Frances S. Robinson
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
Initially affordable only among the wealthy, glass was used in ancient Rome to create tableware and containers for oils and perfume. The word amphoriskos, Greek for “small amphora,” refers to this object’s shape, a miniature version of the two-handled vessels that contained oil or wine. In the ancient Mediterranean world, scented oils, usually olive oil based, were used rather than alcohol-based perfumes.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
