Askos (200–1 BCE): Art, History and Details

Askos (200–1 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This miniature vessel was carved from a single piece of banded agate, polished to a shine, and embellished with a gold lid and gold details on the base. Inside the ring of gold at the base is a trio of gold papyrus stalks, a likely reference to Egypt. In shape, it resembles an ancient wineskin, or askos, though its small size suggests use for luxury perfumes or oils. A tiny crab, likely once inlaid with a precious material, has been carved behind the handle.

Object facts

• Title: Askos
• Date: 200–1 BCE
• Culture: Greece, Ptolemaic Dynasty
• Type: Cosmetic Objects
• Technique: agate and gold
• Dimensions: Overall: 6.5 cm (2 9/16 in.)
• Collection: GR - Greek
• Department: Greek and Roman Art
• Accession number: 1964.92

A detail from the museum

The knob on the lid connects to a hidden disk to control the flow of liquid.

Collection credit

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• “Year in Review for 1964.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 51, no. 10 (1964): 236–66.
• Cooney, John D. “A Perfume Flask from Antiquity.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 52, no. 2 (1965)
• Cooney, John D. “A Perfume Flask from Antiquity.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 52, no. 2 (February 1965): 45–46.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.