Fish-Shaped Glass Flask

Small glass bottles with animal figurines were a popular vessel in the pre-Islamic and early Islamic world, and have been discovered in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Egypt. These bottles were most probably produced in greater Syria sometime from the 1st to 2nd century AH/7th to 8th century CE. This free-blown animal flask is in the shape of a fish. Made of colourless glass, its mouth, eyes and fins are all decorated with applied blue glass. Such an object would have been used as a container – for perfume, balsam or kohl – or as a decorative element, attached to the outside of a glass bowl, which would have given the appearance of swimming when the vessel was filled with liquid.