Roman Miniature Pyriform Unguentarium (Perfume Bottle)

Imperial (Roman)
ca. 50 - 150

2 1/16 x 1 5/16 x 1 5/16 in. (5.2 x 3.4 x 3.3 cm)

This object has the following keywords:

• unguentaria - Containers probably used to hold ointments and perfume. Early ceramic examples found at Petra (probably 4th-century BCE) were in the typical Hellenistic form of the spindle bottle, but this form was later completely replaced by a series of high-necked types with round to ovoid bodies of varying and apparently standardized forms (from the 1st century BCE onwards). The number of unguentaria found at Petra suggests that they were made locally; their manufacture would have been linked to the myrrh and other unguents that the Nabataeans traded. They have also been found at western sites. Pear-shaped glass unguentaria were later made at various locations in the Arabian peninsula.