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Silk Road Collection
Glass

Amphoriskos

  • Eastern Mediterranean
  • 6th-4th century BC
  • glass
  • H8.7×W5.6cm

Yellow and aqua-colored bands of glass were wrapped around the dark blue base color, and then scratched to create a zigzag pattern. This decoration is typical of core-formed glass, and it is thought to have been used as a container for expensive perfumed oil. This type of the vessel is called an amphoriskos, a smaller version of an amphora, a Greek jar used to store wine and olive oil.