Islamic Glass Perfume Bottle - AMD.238, Origin: Jericho, Circa: 800 AD to 1000 AD, Dimensions: 2.3" (5.8cm) high x 1.1" (2.8cm) wide, Collection: Islamic Art, Style: Mold-Blown/Cut, Medium: Glass. Small cut glass bottles with bold geometric designs were popular throughout the Islamic world between the ninth and tenth centuries. Facet-cutting was a technique first employed for luxury wares during the Sassanian period, where it was used predominantly for hemispherical bowls. During the Islamic era it was employed on a wider variety of vessels, especially tall globular bottles where it was used to create a 'honeycomb' effect. In this example the technique is used with withstraint for a band of large rectangular facets around the neck. Each of the four sides of the body have a series of rectangles outlined in relief. The basic shape of the bottle would have been created using a mold, but the geometric motifs were added when the glass was cold by grinding away parts of the surface with a cutting tool.

Antiquities
Ancient Near East