# Alabastron (Container for Scented Oil)

- By: Ancient Mediterranean
- Date: 6th-4th century BCE
- Medium: Glass, core-formed technique
- Classification: Vessel
- Dimensions: 13.3 × 3.8 × 3.8 cm (5 1/4 × 1 1/2 × 1 1/2 in.)
- Culture: Mediterranean Region
- Credit line: Gift of Theodore W. and Frances S. Robinson
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/67491)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/4ef97f4e-9790-0d4a-c461-f45bfe090c13/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Initially affordable only among the wealthy, glass was used in ancient Rome as containers for oils, perfume, and tablewares. In the ancient Mediterranean world, scented oils, usually olive oil based, were generally used rather than alcohol-based perfumes. This vessel is called an “alabastron” because objects of this shape were originally made of alabaster. Core-formed glass was made by dipping a removable core that gives the vessel its shape into a molten glass mixture. The pattern was created by trailing threads of glass mixture of different colors over the body of the vessel, then combing the threads with a pointed tool.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0