Hellenistic Pyriform Ointment Flask

At the height of the Hellenistic age, when Greek culture had spread throughout the Mediterranean, this elegant vessel may have contained fragrant oils, ointments, or perfumes. It was perhaps offered as a votive at some temple or shrine. Its graceful shape is reminiscent of the feminine figure, exquisitely and gently curved. As we hold it in our hands today, admiring its simple beauty, we are aware of the touch of other hands long ago. Who might have held it when it was new? Were the dreams and emotions that guided their lives so very different from our own? The vessel’s graceful unadorned shape appeals as much to the contemporary eye as it did to the culture that created it. Such artifacts, ordinary enough in their own age, connect us in an intimate way with the world of the past. In its presence, we cross the bride of time and set the imagination on a journey of discovery.