- Title
- Bottle
- Date Made
- 11th-12th century
- Medium
- Glass, mold-blown and tooled; free-blown and tooled
- Dimensions
- Height: 5 1/16 in. (12.85 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2002.1.477
- Collecting Area
- Art of the Middle East: Islamic
- Curatorial Notes
Glassmaking, one of many crafts that flourished in the lands that would form the early Islamic empire in the mid-seventh through the eighth century, persisted under the new faith and leadership. Even beyond this transitional period, some glass forms continued to be produced virtually unchanged to serve the same specific functions, as is the case here. This delicate purple bottle with undulating fluting along its body was formed by blowing molten glass into a ribbed mold. Its distinctive shape, which predates the Islamic era, provides important clues to its function. The pointed bottom prevents it from standing upright, making it impractical for holding liquids. Rather, its tapering form represents a type that was designed to hold cosmetics like kohl, a mixture of lead or charcoal combined with oil and used since ancient times as eyeliner.
2024
