Greek black-glaze lekythos, Athens, Little Lion Class, 560-530 BC
Terracotta
Height: 12.6cm, diameter at shoulder: 6.4cm
11149
Further images
Delicately potted lekythos with black-glazed body and a near horizontal shoulder. Added paint in a red-purple has been used in three areas: to highlight the flattened rim, for two thin...
Delicately potted lekythos with black-glazed body and a near horizontal shoulder. Added paint in a red-purple has been used in three areas: to highlight the flattened rim, for two thin lines circling the very top of the body, and as a single line where the body joins the foot. The shoulder decoration consists of lotus petals radiating from the neck, each interlinked to another petal three along by a very fine arch. Every other petal has been enlivened with two strokes in added white. The handle arches upwards from the edge of the shoulder and down to the narrow neck, lying flush with it. The outer edges of the funnel lip and handle are black. The underside and outer edge of the thin foot reserved, the underside pushed up and embellished with a small triangular central nipple.
Intact, some misfiring to the body, the added white worn, several minor chips to the lip.
The term lekythos (pl. lekythoi) comes from antiquity, and the Athenians seem to have used it to describe any small vessel that held precious oils. The shape appears around 590BC, when it was decorated in the black-figure technique. The form and decoration developed over the years, and those of plain black glaze were the most durable and as such appear to have had an everyday use at baths and gymnasia as well as in funerary offerings. The shape is characterised by a long cylindrical body that tapers gracefully to the base, a narrow neck, a vertical loop handle and a funnel mouth.
Intact, some misfiring to the body, the added white worn, several minor chips to the lip.
The term lekythos (pl. lekythoi) comes from antiquity, and the Athenians seem to have used it to describe any small vessel that held precious oils. The shape appears around 590BC, when it was decorated in the black-figure technique. The form and decoration developed over the years, and those of plain black glaze were the most durable and as such appear to have had an everyday use at baths and gymnasia as well as in funerary offerings. The shape is characterised by a long cylindrical body that tapers gracefully to the base, a narrow neck, a vertical loop handle and a funnel mouth.
Provenance
Private collection, Geneva, Switzerland; acquired before 1970Charles Ede Ltd, London, UK; acquired 14th June 2010
Private collection, Dallas, USA; acquired from the above, 14th June 2010
Private collection, Wiltshire, UK