Unguentaria were manufactured in various media: stone examples, usually called alabastra, were made in alabaster, gypsum, and calcite; they were also made in ceramic and glass, where they are created in a large number of pottery fabrics. This commences in particular in the late Hellenistic period, beginning in the 2nd century B.C. They continue to be made in ceramic throughout the period, mostly of Plain White Ware. They were used as containers for various ointments, perfumes, or perhaps medicines.

In the Roman period, however, unguentaria are rarely made in ceramic - glass takes over and earlier ceramic forms are often copied in glass. Shapes also change; the fusiform profile disappears and the body becomes more ovoid, without the long, characteristic foot of the earlier period.

There are three types of glass unguentaria within the Semitic Museum's Cesnola Collection: bell-shaped; candlestick, so-called due to their obvious similarity in shape (as at right), i.e., depressed body, long thin neck, and flaring, often flattened and folded rim; and tubular unguentaria, . These shapes guaranteed a slow pouring of the apparently valuable liquid which the flask contained, and the flared, in-folded rim prevented dripping of any residue, and ensured that it flowed back inside.