cite as: https://uremuseum.org/record/51.7.5
| Accession_Number | 51.7.5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shape | Lekythos | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shape_description | Bell mouth, flaring at the rim, with a convex upper surface, offset from a narrow neck, broadening and curving sharply into the ovoid body; strap handle rises from the top of the neck and joins the lower part of the shoulder; molded ring base, divded into two concave parts, divied by a ridge at the middle; convex underside. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Material | Terracotta | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fabric | Apulian | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fabric_description | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Munsell_color | 7.5YR 6/4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Decoration | Interior reserved; black glaze on mouth and upper half of neck, as well as upper half of handle; lower part of neck decorated with tongues that suggest ribbing; shoulder decorated (except under handle) with an egg-and-dot frieze between two black lines; reserved space at lower part of handle and handle attachment (interior) suggest that the mouth and neck were dipped. Body decorated with a frieze consisting of 7 clusters of three white dots at the top of a figural scene (arranged in upside down triangle shapes): a female figure, standing in 3/4-view to the left, in a relaxed posture with her left leg crossing her right, and her left elbow resting on a pillar (the curvy element in added white suggests that this is meant to represent natural rock). She wears a hairband and kekrphylon on her head, triple-dot earrings, two or three necklaces (two strands of white beads beneath a black line), two white bracelets on each wrist; a belted sleeveless chiton, and white slippers. She holds, in her upraised right hand, a mirror surrounded by white dots, and, in her left hand, a phiale that is surrounded by white beads, as well as a beaded sash. A large palmette, with a white dot on the heart and white dots on each volute, fills the space beneath the handle. From each volute emerges tendrils and floral decoration that frame the image of the woman. A 6-petal rosette fills the space to the right of the woman; to her left are a window and a dotted circle (cog-wheel?) in the upper left field, and an olive branch in the lower left field. On the body, beneath the figural scene, are a single reserved band and a thicker black band. The foot is reserved on the top element, and glazed black on the ridge and lower element; the underside and resting surface are reserved. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Inscriptions | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Condition | Complete but repaired at neck. Two small chips on the rim. Small areas of deposit found around the foot. Black very smooth and shiny, as is some of the red. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technique/Style | Red figure; added white on hair, jewellery, feet, floral elements, and rock | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Provenance | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Period | Late Classical / Early Hellenistic | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | 340-320 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dating_details | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Artist | Cleveland Group; Patera-Ganymede Workshop | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attribution | A.C. Smith. The squat lekythos, albeit one with broader proportions, is favored by the painters in the Cleveland Group. Further this vase indicates other characteristics of the work attributed to that group: columnar drapery on standing women, beaded sphendone and jewellery, and white, blobby rocks used as seats or supports. The treatment of subsidiary ornament and the palmette under the handle are also similar, although the Cleveland Group preferred the 1 1/2 superimposed palmettes on such squat lekythoi. For a similar single palmette and other related decoration see also 26/68b and other works by the closely related Group of the Trieste Askoi, which, like the Reading squat lekythos, are plain beneath the main zone (whereas the Cleveland Group usually includes a wave band beneath the main zone). | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Image |
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| Comparanda | Belongs to the class of 'Ornate Style' small vases connected both with the Darius Painter and with the Patera and Ganymede Painters. Particularly close comparanda are Heidelberg U 15 (CVA pl. 77.4-6, RVAp 26/11) and Metaponto 128723 (from Pizzica d'Onofrio: seeJ. Carter, Ancient Crossroads fig. 31a; RVAp 26/15). | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bibliography | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Archive_Ref | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Beazley_DB | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 20.4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Diameters | Rim 4.7; neck 1.5; body 8.2; base 6.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Handle_height | 6.5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other_dims. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Body Beautiful | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Edited_by | Denise; Amy; Kinsey; Teifi | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date_edited | 09.09.2002; 09.12.2003; 11.01.2006; 04.08.2006 |
