Ancient Art

White-ground lekythos with decoration in black and umber. The central scene depicts Herakles standing nude, grasping the head of the Cretan Bull. Two spears and a helmet behind him, a large, folded piece of drapery in front of him with an inscription running vertically above the bull's head. A meander above the scene, and solid black slip below with lines of red at the ground line. Ghosts of palmettes around the shoulder of the neck and similar traces of a band of tongues at the join with the neck. Recomposed from fragments, much of the black glaze worn. An area of restoration and repainting the the right thigh of Herakles, strengthening of outlines in figure of bull.

Such Lekythoi were created for burial offerings and were used in funeral ceremonies. Their narrow necks and cup-shaped mouths were designed to dispense small amounts of expensive oil without dripping.
The term 'white-ground' describes a decorative technique in which the surface of the vase was coated with a slip that turned white during firing. Figures were then drawn on this pale background, primarily in black but other colours such as red, yellow, blue and purple could also be added. Because these pigments were fragile and prone to fading over time, the method eventually became used solely for decorating funerary lekythoi.