- This piece will not be shipped outside the European Union - Alabastron. Ancient Greek, 4th century BC. Alabaster. 14.2 cm height. PROVENANCE: Private collection, England, acquired in the 1980s. CONDITION: In a good state of preservation, broked on the lib (see photo). DESCRIPTION: An elegant Greek alabastron made from alabaster. It has an ovoid body of considerable capacity, a long narrow neck with a small opening at the mouth and a flat lip. It was designed in this manner to make it easier to carefully control the flow of the contents. We can see a ring half way up the neck of the piece which adds an aesthetically pleasing embellishment to this commonly used type of vessel. This alabastron is made up of two pieces joined together, the body and a plug at the bottom. This particular vessel could not be fashioned in the usual manner, which was to make a perforation from the top of the neck from where the unguent was to be poured, and work down, hollowing out the body where it would be stored. In this case, where we see a very narrow neck and a ballooning body, the hollowing was done in the other direction, from below, starting from a hole made at the bottom. Once the body had been hollowed out, a wide circular piece of marble was used to plug the hole, and then the lip and the neck were perforated from above. In this manner, an alabastron with an ample body and fine duct was created, different from the great majority of the examples that we know of. This type of object was used in antiquity to hold oils and perfumed unguents for grooming. Many variations have been found across the entire Mediterranean, both made of alabaster and of other materials such as bronze, gold, and other sorts of stone. Notes: - The piece includes authenticity certificate. - The piece includes Spanish Export License (Passport for European Union). - The seller guarantees that he acquired this piece according to all national and international laws related to the ownership of cultural property. Provenance statement seen by Catawiki. - This piece will not be shipped outside the European Union.