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© Museum Associates 2026
Collections

Bottle11th-12th century

On view:
Geffen Galleries
Ancient amber glass bottle with ribbed body, pronounced knop at the neck, flared mouth, and heavily weathered surface with rust-brown and green patina
Blown glass unguentarium with a ribbed ovoid body in olive green, a narrow neck, and flared mouth; surface shows heavy iridescent weathering and encrustation.

Unknown, Bottle, 11th-12th century, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA

Title
Bottle
Place Made
Eastern Mediterranean
Date Made
11th-12th century
Medium
Glass, mold-blown and tooled, pontil on base
Dimensions
Height: 7 3/4 in. (19.68 cm)
Credit Line
The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost
Accession Number
M.2002.1.508
Classification
Glass
Collecting Area
Art of the Middle East: Islamic
Curatorial Notes

This attractive amber-colored bottle features fluted decoration along its body produced by blowing molten glass into a ribbed mold. As with many such glass vessels, it is difficult to determine precisely what type of liquid it was designed to contain, whether for ingesting or for personal hygiene. Nonetheless, such well-preserved vessels suggest that refinement and sophistication were important elements of daily life among the affluent in medieval Islamic lands.

2024

Selected Bibliography

  • Lo Terrenal y lo Divino: Arte Islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Ángeles. Santiago: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015.

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