Dropper Flask
Front
Dropper Flask 2019-08-14
Name/Title
Dropper FlaskEntry/Object ID
11NE-Mi47-184Description
The rim is unevenly everted and folded inwards with a funneled mouth. On the exterior of the mouth is a singular trailed ring, applied in one revolution. The exterior of the mouth slopes into a cylindrical neck with a slight constriction at its base. At the constriction, on the interior of the vessel, is a diaphragm with an aperture at its center. The shoulders are gently sloping with five high pinched ribs which begin at the base of the shoulders, ending at the bottom of the squat globular body in less prominent projections. The base has nine pinched "toes" making the vessel slightly lopsided. The vessel is intact with iridescence and encrustation visible.Use
Perfume VesselContext
Sprinkler vessels held perfume, oils, and other costly liquids. The neck of a sprinkler vessel is nearly fully closed as a diaphragm with a small central aperture sits at the base of its neck. The small aperture allows the liquid contents within the bottle to be emptied drop by drop so the user could apply the liquid sparingly, giving the vessel the name "Dropper Flask". Additionally, some catalogues call these vessels "Pomegranate Sprinklers" because when turned upside-down, the pinched toes mimic the shape of a pomegranate. E. M. Stern believes the popularity of the pomegranate-shaped sprinklers were due to the fruit symbolically representing fertility and beauty.Made/Created
Date made
200 CE - 350 CETime Period
Roman Imperial, Late AntiqueEthnography
Culture/Tribe
Near Eastern - Syro-Palestine