Period: Hellenistic
Date: 1st century B.C.
Culture: Greek, Eastern Mediterranean
Medium: Glass
Dimensions: H.: 8 3/8 in. (21.3 cm)

Translucent cobalt blue, colorless, translucent turquoise blue, translucent honey brown, opaque white, and gold leaf.
Plain vertical rim, ground flat on top edge; recessed band below to receive neck and rim attachment; biconical body, expanding downwards to midway point, then slanting in to pointed bottom.
Gold-band mosaic pattern formed from serpentine lengths of two different canes in combinations of blue and turquoise outlined in white, with one having a band in brown backed with white, the other having a band in colorless encasing shattered gold leaf. The gold-band canes are repeated twice over the body.
Broken and repaired, with areas on fill around upper half of body; slight dulling, pitting of surface bubbles, faint iridescent weathering on body, and thick creamy weathering on rim, recessed band, and interior.

This is an unusually large gold-band alabastron with a rare pointed shape. Attached to top was a detachable neck piece or stopper that is now lost. The neck piece had a broad, flat rim and was usually made in a different monochrome glass. A complete example can be seen in the Hellenistic Treasury.