Ancient Greece, Athens, ca. 510 to 500 BCE. A graceful Attic, lekythos of an elegant form. This slender vessel, used to store precious olive oil or perfume, is finely decorated in black-figure technique, the central register depicting a rider in a chariot with three charioteers who are preparing two horses for a race or ride, this band on a red ground, the shoulder, neck, and lower bands on a white ground. Above is a border featuring a checkerboard pattern, and a ray band pattern adorns the shoulder. Size: 2.25" in diameter x 7.125" H (5.7 cm x 18.1 cm)

Athens excelled in ceramics from the first half of the sixth century BCE, and its creations outnumbered those of all other artistic centers in the ancient world. Greek pottery became synonymous with Attic ware, the pottery created in the region around Athens, as it was regarded as the most beautiful and the most 'modern', and thus, the most widely exported. Artists used the black-figure vase painting technique, applying figural and ornamental motifs with a slip that turned black during the firing process; however the background remained the inherent color of the clay. As we see in this example, vase painters articulated individual forms by incising the slip. Sometimes additional white (and sometimes purple) slip details were added. The form of representation was still somewhat Archaic, with heads and bodies shown in strict profile; however, this example begins to demonstrate an interest in three-dimensional modelling of the figures and conveying movement and the illusion of depth.

Provenance: Ex-Cathcart Collection

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#119081

Repaired with visible breaklines, pigment loss, and abrasions as shown.