Terracotta plemochoe (vase for perfume)

Kothons Type B

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

There were several types of vase in ancient Athens for perfumed oils. The aryballos and alabastra were small, and their round bases prevented them from standing on their own. They required a support or were suspended from a cord. The plemochoe has a flat base but on fifth-century vases is often shown being carried by a woman. The mouth is specially profiled to minimize spilling.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.

Metropolitan Museum of Art