#balsamarium
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chapps.bsky.social
Any excuse to repost this balsamarium. She looks like a very disappointed Italian aunt. Very. Disappointed. 😬
chapps.bsky.social Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · Jul 18
Here’s a good example of a similar Etruscan hairstyle, on this balsamarium (oil flask). As on the much larger head vase, the topknot is both part of the hairstyle, and practical - it functions as a lid on the spout.

flic.kr/p/2rvdhbU
Etruscan bronze container in the form of a woman's head
Bronze container cast in the form of a woman's head, the top-knot of her hair forming the stopper. Probably a balsamarium, a container for cosmetics. She wears upside-down pyramidal earrings, a lunula...
flic.kr
July 19, 2026 at 2:09 AM
subrosamagick.bsky.social
A small bronze balsamarium (scented oil container) from Etruria, in the shape of a woman's head, likely Turan, goddess of love and beauty. 3rd century BCE.
August 7, 2026 at 10:24 PM
angryalgonquin.com
UNGUENTARIUM. BALSAMARIUM. Let's bring back the old words.
diffendale.bsky.social Dan Diffendale @diffendale.bsky.social · Apr 18
Roman blown-glass unguentarium or balsamarium in the shape of a dove, found at Rovasenda near Vercelli in N Italy, sealed since its manufacture about 1900 years ago, containing the remains of a cosmetic and the liquid in which it was once suspended. One would have snapped off the tail to open.
🏺
An ancient artifact on display in a museum: a clear glass vessel in the shape of a dove, mostly full of a clear liquid, with a small heap of pinkish substance in the bottom, and dark substances in the head and tail.
April 18, 2026 at 6:21 PM
romebeyond.bsky.social
Glass balsamarium from Albano Laziale, 1st century CE, on display at the archaeological museum
#GlassObjectThursday #archaeology #history #AncientBlueSky
February 20, 2025 at 3:22 PM
archaeohistories.bsky.social
A 1st-2nd Century AD, Roman bronze balsamarium in the form of a boxing dwarf.

The figure features a grotesque, stout body with an enlarged phallus, highlighting a common motif in Roman decorative arts.

Gorny & Mosch, Munich
July 10, 2026 at 11:09 PM
malcolmstoneman.bsky.social
Perfume vessel (balsamarium)
Bronze (copper alloy)
c. 300-200 BCE

The vessel is in the form of a female head.

Found at Vulci in Etruria, #Italy

Now Fitzwilliam Museum, #Cambridge

#MetalworkThursday
#Etruscan / #Roman
#FindsFriday
A perfume vessel in the shape of a female head.
January 15, 2026 at 8:14 AM
bmegyptian.bsky.social
Balsamarium https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/100398
Balsamarium
December 20, 2024 at 5:55 PM
anforsorrow.bsky.social
An unguentorium was a small glass flask used in the ancient Mediterranean world for perfumes, ointments, and balms. But in some parts of the Roman Empire these flasks were made in the shape of a dove, with the liquid sealed inside. The bottle could only be opened by breaking the dove's neck or tail.
Unguentarium (or balsamarium) in the shape of a dove. Mid 1st century CE. This example is the only one known to still be sealed, and is half-filled with a clear liquid, with a slight pinkish sediment deposited at the bottom. They have been primarily found in northern Italy, extremely common in Piedmontese burials. Musei Reali Torino. Torino (Italy) Unguentarium (or balsamarium) in the shape of a dove, made with blue glass. Veneto Region. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Adria. Adria (Italy)
May 31, 2026 at 12:22 PM
followinghadrian.bsky.social
#ArtefactSunday - An anthropomorphic Roman bronze balsamarium (ointment container) in the form of Antinous, dressed in fawn skin (nebris, an attribute of the god Dionysos). Dated to the 2nd century AD.

Formerly in the Mougins Museum of Classical Art, France.
September 6, 2026 at 3:23 PM
chapps.bsky.social
The beauty of #Etruscan art is on full display here in this bronze balsamarium - a cosmetics or oil vessel. In the shape of a woman's (or goddess') head, the details are wonderful: her pyramidal earrings, a lunula, and a tiara with ... another crescent? 1/

200-150 BCE. #BritishMuseum 🏺
📸 me
Bronze container cast in the form of a woman's head, the top-knot of her hair forming the stopper. Probably a balsamarium, a container for cosmetics. She wears upside-down pyramidal earrings, a lunula (crescent-shaped pendant worn by women), and a tiara with a capital 'U' symbol in the middle - perhaps another moon crescent or the horns of a bull (?). A beautiful range of colors on the bronze, from golden highlights to deep brown, orangish-gold, red, and green. Her head is slightly tilted to her left, as if she's considering you. Etruscan, 200-150 BCE. From Etruria (Tuscany). Bronze. H: 10.16 cm (4 in.) British Museum, London (1839,1109.40.a, Bronze 763)
September 23, 2025 at 10:22 PM
chapps.bsky.social
For a laugh, here's the official photo of this gorgeous balsamarium on their website. Good lord. Looks like ca. 1950s, before any conservation work was done. 🧟‍♀️ 🏺 2/
Official British Museum photo of this balsamarium, obviously an old one, with low resolution and faded colors. The vessel is so black that it looks charred from a fire, the lighting is awful, and it's encrusted in salts or dirt.
September 23, 2025 at 10:22 PM
diffendale.bsky.social
Roman blown-glass unguentarium or balsamarium in the shape of a dove, found at Rovasenda near Vercelli in N Italy, sealed since its manufacture about 1900 years ago, containing the remains of a cosmetic and the liquid in which it was once suspended. One would have snapped off the tail to open.
🏺
An ancient artifact on display in a museum: a clear glass vessel in the shape of a dove, mostly full of a clear liquid, with a small heap of pinkish substance in the bottom, and dark substances in the head and tail.
April 18, 2026 at 12:38 PM
chapps.bsky.social
Here’s a good example of a similar Etruscan hairstyle, on this balsamarium (oil flask). As on the much larger head vase, the topknot is both part of the hairstyle, and practical - it functions as a lid on the spout.

flic.kr/p/2rvdhbU
Etruscan bronze container in the form of a woman's head
Bronze container cast in the form of a woman's head, the top-knot of her hair forming the stopper. Probably a balsamarium, a container for cosmetics. She wears upside-down pyramidal earrings, a lunula...
flic.kr
July 18, 2026 at 1:42 PM
chapps.bsky.social
Hedgehog alert! Specifically, a hedgehog-shaped terracotta balsamarium (oil flask) made in Corinth in the first half of the 6th c. BCE and exported to Etruria. The Etruscans were a major market for the ceramics produced in Greece and Magna Graecia. 🦔

Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia
📸 me
Brown terracotta vessel shaped like a fat little hedgehog with a long snout and upturned nose. He still has the remains of paint, including little dots all over his torso, indicating his quills. He has large dark eyes and a little smile, along with a little hole in his snout where the out would presumable be poured from.
March 11, 2025 at 8:40 PM
antinousgaygod.bsky.social
🪷 #MensGroomingDay: Any well-groomed Roman had an #Antinous #Balsamarium for unguents, perfume oil, bath oils ... in hopes of coming out of the baths looking as handsome as #Antinoos! Lots more #balsamaria here: www.antinopolis.org/gallery/icon... More: antinousstars.blogspot.com/2026/08/no-w... 🪷
August 21, 2026 at 9:52 AM
museo-belriguardo.bsky.social
Sardonyx balsamarium from tomb no. 61 (direct cremation pit, 2nd century AD) of the Roman-imperial necropolis of Voghenza. A unique piece in the world (from all points of view)!
#BelloBelriguardo #archeologia #Archaeology 🏺 🗃️
#RomanSiteSaturday
November 30, 2024 at 10:47 AM
archaeologymag.bsky.social
Archaeologists in Bulgaria recently found a Roman grave containing bath gear: a strigil, and this bucket, called a balsamarium. It likely held skin-cleansing oils or balms. But why was it shaped like that?

archaeology.org/issues/january-february-2020/digs-discoveries/digs-bulgaria-roman-bath-buddy/
September 9, 2026 at 9:03 PM
antinousgaygod.bsky.social
🪷 14 June #InternationalBathDay Well-groomed Romans had an #Antinous #Balsamarium for unguents, perfume oil, bath oils, in hopes of coming out of the baths looking as handsome as #Antinoos! More #balsamaria here: www.antinopolis.org/gallery/icon... Read: antinousstars.blogspot.com/2023/08/no-w... 🪷
June 14, 2026 at 11:09 AM
jonalendering.bsky.social
Ik was verbaasd op de villa-expositie in het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden een balsamarium te zien met het portret van Hadrianus' geliefde Antinoüs, gevonden in #Bocholtz (Nederlands Limburg).

mainzerbeobachter.com/2024/06/18/e...
Een balsamarium uit Bocholtz - Mainzer Beobachter
Een balsmarium ofwel zalfpotje uit Bocholtz heeft het portret van Antinoüs, de geliefde van keizer Hadrianus. Maar waarom?
mainzerbeobachter.com
June 18, 2024 at 1:35 PM
chapps.bsky.social
I love these little soldier-head aryballoi and have spotted them in several museums. Here’s one from the National Etruscan Museum at the Villa Giulia in Rome (listed as a balsamarium). Perhaps created in Rhodes.

End of the 7th-6th c. BCE.
August 14, 2025 at 8:54 PM
lonelysandperson.bsky.social
"An unguentarium, also referred to as balsamarium, lacrimarium, or tears vessel, is a small ceramic or glass bottle found frequently by archaeologists at Hellenistic and Roman sites, especially in cemeteries. Its most common use was probably as a container for oil..."
So I guess it is! 😄
July 3, 2025 at 6:51 PM
chapps.bsky.social
I've added this to my Flickr account, where you can see additional details in a downloadable high-res file. I'm particularly interested in that symbol on her tiara. 🏺 3/

flic.kr/p/2rvdhbU
Etruscan bronze container in the form of a woman's head
Bronze container cast in the form of a woman's head, the top-knot of her hair forming the stopper. Probably a balsamarium, a container for cosmetics. She wears upside-down pyramidal earrings, a lunula...
flic.kr
September 23, 2025 at 10:22 PM
antinousgaygod.bsky.social
🪷 #NovemberCountdown to the birthday of Antinous on 27 November: #Antinous #Balsamarium for unguents, perfume oil, bath oils ... so you come out of the baths looking #Antinoan ... as beautiful as #Antinoos! Lots more #balsamaria here: antinopolis.org/gallery/icon... 🪷
November 8, 2025 at 9:14 AM
antinousgaygod.bsky.social
🪷 An Antinous #balsamarium vessel for unguents, perfume oil, bath oils so you come out of the baths looking as beautiful as #Antinous! His hair is unusually in an Egyptian style. As Moon God, he wears a "lunula" lunar crescent pendant. More #balsamaria here: www.antinopolis.org/gallery/icon... 🪷
January 9, 2025 at 5:05 PM
antinousgaygod.bsky.social
🪷 14 June is International Bath Day: Any well-groomed Roman had an #Antinous Balsamarium for unguents, perfume oil, bath oils ... in hopes of coming out of the baths looking as handsome as Antinous! More balsamaria here: www.antinopolis.org/gallery/icon... #InternationalBathDay #BathDay 🪷
June 13, 2025 at 11:12 PM