Collection Item

From:UC Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities

Name/TitleSquat Lekythos

About this objectLekythoi (the plural form of lekythos) are Greek vessels commonly used for storing oils, often olive oil. A squat lekythos is notable for its rounded belly and its small size, rarely being larger than 20cm tall. This lekythos comes from Southern Italy, a region known in the fourth century BC for its Greek colonies and Greek pottery styles. The lightness of the pinkish buff clay used to form this vase means it is likely to have come from the Campanian region, on the lower west coast of Italy around Naples.

The rounded body has a ring foot at the base and a strap handle that arches from the mid-neck to the lower shoulder. The mouth of the vase is flat with a wide spreading lip. The vase has been dipped in a shiny, somewhat metallic black glaze to cover all the external surfaces, and there are two dribbles on the underside. This lekythos has no additional decoration, but often vases like these were decorated with red-figure scenes or carved patterns.

Date Madeca. 350-300 BC

PeriodHellenistic

Place MadeItaly

Place NotesSouth Italian, perhaps Campanian

Medium and MaterialsPottery: Ceramic

Style and IconographyCampanian

TechniqueThrowing (pottery technique)

TechniqueGlazing (coating process)

MeasurementsHeight 93mm; Diameter 77mm

Subject and Association KeywordsFood history

Named CollectionThe James Logie Memorial Collection, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Credit LineDonated by Mrs Broadhead, 1968. From the collection of Professor H.D. Broadhead.

Object TypeContainers

Object number78.68

Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved