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From:UC Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities
Name/TitleLekythos
About this objectThis white-ground lekythos, a funerary vase for holding oil, has suffered a secondary firing. This accounts for some disparities in colour between fragments.
On the shoulder is a palmette and lotus design bordered above by egg and dot pattern. On the body is a kitharode (a musician who played the kithara, an instrument similar to a lyre) and Nike, the goddess of victory. On the left, the kitharode stands in the pose usually given to such figures at this period with his head back and the right hand with the plectrum held out in front. He wears a long ornate chiton (a form of dress) through which one can see the outline of his body. The fringed apron of the kithara swings forward. Nike advances from the right holding out a fillet between her hands (the fillet in dilute glaze now mostly missing). She wears a full chiton with kolpos (blousing fabric) and has a sakkos (a soft woven cap) on her head. In the field above, between the figures is the inscription 'kalos ho pais' ('the boy is beautiful').
Such a vase would have made a suitable gift or grave offering for a young man who had achieved distinction in a musical contest in life.
MakerUnattributed
Date Madeca. 470 BC
PeriodEarly Classical
Place MadeGreece; Athens
Medium and MaterialsCeramic: Pottery
Style and IconographyAthenian
Style and IconographyWhite-ground
TechniqueThrowing (pottery technique)
MeasurementsHeight 372mm; Diameter 120mm.
Subject and Association KeywordsMusic in art
Subject and Association KeywordsGoddesses in art
Subject and Association KeywordsMourning customs
Named CollectionThe James Logie Memorial Collection, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Credit LinePurchased, 1953.
Object TypeContainers
Object number3.53
Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved