Glass was often the preferred material for storing expensive oils, perfumes, and medicines in antiquity because it was not porous. By the 1st century AD, the technique of glass-blowing had revolutionised the art of glass-making, allowing for the production of small medicine, incense, and perfume containers in new forms. Glass vessels are found frequently at Hellenistic and Roman sites, especially in cemeteries, and the liquids, which filled them, would have been gathered from all corners of the expansive Roman Empire. Sprinkler jars, such as this fine example, were a popular type of vessel in this period and are characterized by a very small opening designed to dispense small amounts of liquid virtually drop by drop via the constriction ring in its neck.
To learn more about Roman glass, visit our relevant post: How It Was Made: Roman Glass.