Phoenician Core-Formed Glass Alabastron | Zigzag Trail

Eastern Mediterranean to Near East, Phoenician, ca. 500–200 BCE. A deep cobalt blue core formed alabastron of slender ovoid body rising to a short neck and broad disc rim edged in yellow trailing. Two small opposing loop handles are applied at the shoulder. Fine yellow threads encircle the upper body, framing a wide central register of light blue and yellow trails marvered and combed into crisp zigzags, with two further yellow zigzag bands below. Wound over a friable core and rolled flat on a marver, the vessel held perfumed oil or scented unguent, a luxury commodity traded across the Levantine and Mediterranean world and frequently deposited in tombs. The rounded base needed no foot: such flasks were suspended by cord through the handles or set in a stand. Size: 4.875" H (12.4 cm H).

Before the invention of glassblowing in the first century BCE, all glass vessels were built by hand. The core forming technique required a shaped mass of clay and organic binder fixed to a metal rod, over which molten glass was wound in a continuous trail; threads of contrasting color were then applied, marvered flush into the surface, and dragged with a pointed tool to produce the feathered and zigzag patterns seen here. Handles and rim were added last, and once cool the core was picked out through the mouth, leaving the interior characteristically rough.

The workshops of the Phoenician coast, Sidon and Tyre among them, dominated this trade from the sixth century BCE onward, supplying alabastra, amphoriskoi, and aryballoi to markets from Cyprus and Rhodes to Carthage and the Black Sea. The cobalt ground imitated lapis lazuli, and the vessels themselves were often worth more than the aromatics they carried.

Provenance: Collection of Shulamith and Felix Oppenheim, to family by descent.

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Item #

73338

Condition
Overall scattered surface deposits. Professionally repaired from approximately ten original pieces with restoration over the break lines.

Buyer's Premium
30%