**Originally Listed At $2000**

Magna Graecia, South Italy, Apulia, ca. 350 to 325 BCE. A splendid and sizable pottery lidded vessel known as a lekanis that is covered in black glaze and decorated with gorgeous red-figure and fugitive white pigment details. The base presents with a flared foot beneath a hemispherical body with vertical stripes adorning the rim and a pair of parabolic handles protruding from the side walls. The wide, bell-shaped lid bears a register of cresting waves along the exterior rim and a radiating flower atop the discoid handle. Two distinguished 'lady of fashion' characters adorn the top of the lid, both shown in profile and wearing delicate stephane brought forth in fugitive white pigment and kekryphalos hairstyles bound in the back. The grounds surrounding the women are filled with abstract foliate forms and flowers, and a grand pair of palmettes separate the two luxurious ladies. Size: 11.6" Diameter x 9" H (29.5 cm x 22.9 cm)

Lidded lekanides were cosmetic containers, often given by fathers to brides on their wedding day. The Lady of Fashion motif complements this; it is often thought to depict a young woman on her wedding day.

Cf. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2021.40.31a, b.

Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-private T.G. collection, Wiliston, Florida, USA, acquired in August 2000, no. 2854

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#174658

Professional repair and restoration to handles and small area of lid periphery. Areas of overpainting. Some minor nicks and abrasions, all commensurate with age. Otherwise, excellent and impressively preserved with nice remaining pigments and detail. Beautiful iridescence to interior.