Time has robbed this glass vessel of its ancient contents, but has replaced them with a rich, silvery patina the color of moonlight on the sea. If perfume had a visual form equivalent to its scent, it would shimmer like the peacock hues on this flask. Such are the whims of time: something is lost, something entirely different but equally delightful is gained. We cannot help but feel a slight melancholy for the vanished world that created this vessel, but we are rewarded by the delicate patina only time could have given us.