Cosmetic Tube

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Object Name: 
Cosmetic Tube
Place Made: 
Roman Empire
Eastern Mediterranean
Accession Number: 
54.1.100
Dimensions: 
Overall H: 39 cm, W: 9.6 cm
Location: 
On Display
Date: 
400-499
Web Description: 
Single, double, and occasionally quadruple tubes were used in the Near East to contain cosmetic preparations. This example, one of the largest known, was probably intended for display, because the elaborate handle makes it very difficult to extract the contents from the tubes.

More Info

Department: 
Ancient
Provenance: 
Pierpont Morgan Library, Source
1954-09-21
Category: 
Roman
Color: 
dark green
dark blue
green
Technique: 
glassblowing
applied decoration
tooling
Material: 
glass

Description

Primary Description: 
Translucent green and dark bluish-green glass; blown, applied, tooled. Translucent green body has four cylindrical compartments made from single bubble of glass by pinching sides to form diaphragms; compartments linked across solid base; rim turned in and down; sides vertical, tapering at bottom; base flat. Body decorated by attached trail to side of each compartment immediately above bottom; drawn up to rim in eight folds, each attached to side. Next trail attached to lip, pulled down over entire length of folds and pinched in series of horizontal projections. Dark bluish-green applied and tooled handle constructed on body trails and rim creating M-shaped elements.

Exhibitions (2)

Ambrose and Agustine: The Origins of Europe
Venue(s)
Museo Diocesano 2003-11-01 through 2004-06-01
(exhibit title) Ambrogio e Agostino: Le sorgenti dell'Europe
Glass of the Caesars
Venue(s)
British Museum 1987-11-18 through 1988-03-06
Romisch-Germanisches Museum 1988-04-15 through 1988-10-18
Musei Capitolini 1988-11-03 through 1989-01-31
Corning Museum of Glass
 

Publications (16)

The Art Museum (2017) illustrated, room 57 (fig. 6);
The Art Museum (2011) illustrated, Room 62 (5); BIB# 112082
Byzanz - das Römerreich im Mittelalter = Byzantium - the Roman Empire in the middle ages = Byzance - l'Empire romain au moyen age (2011) illustrated, p. 390 (fig. 10);
Glass, Knocking at the Door of Art (2010) illustrated, p. 28; BIB# 115616
The Art of Ancient Glass (2005) p. 42; p. 43, figure 15; BIB# AI71168
Antikes Glas (Handbuch der Archaologie) (2004) illustrated, p. 346, 541, 620 (Taf. 291); BIB# 83444
387 d.c./ambrogio e agostino/le sorgenti dell'europa (2003) illustrated, p. 323, no. 277; p. 429; BIB# 78110
The Corning Museum of Glass, A Guide to the Collections (2001) (2001) illustrated, p. 37; BIB# 68214
Ancient Glass = Koda-i garasu (2001) illustrated, p. 15, fig. 31; BIB# 71423
Roman Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass, Volume Two (2001) pp. 198-199, pl. 752; BIB# 58895
Treasures from The Corning Museum of Glass: Checklist of the Exhibition (1999) illustrated, p. 8; BIB# 63967
Glass of the Caesars (1987) illustrated, pp. 149-150, #77; BIB# 31831
Glass from the Corning Museum of Glass: A Guide to the Collections (1974) (1974) illustrated, p. 24, #23; BIB# 28793
Glass from the Corning Museum of Glass: A Guide to the Collections (1965) (1965) illustrated, p. 24, #23; BIB# 27582
Glass from the Corning Museum of Glass: A Guide to the Collections (1958) (1958) illustrated, p. 25, #19; BIB# 27746
Glass from the Corning Museum of Glass: A Guide to the Collections (1955) (1955) illustrated, p. 22, #13; BIB# 28450