In antiquity, the term lekythos seems to have applied to any kind of oil bottle or jug, including what is known today as an aryballos. This particular lekythos is decorated in black figure, showing a grape arbor sheltering a reclining male figure and his seated female companion, who plays the double flute or aulos. It is made of orange-red clay, with black incised detail. It has a black band around the rim and a black vertical band on the handle. A double row of tongue patterns on the shoulder with a key pattern directly below. Two black horizontal lines, one thin and one fairly thick form the base of the main decorated zone. The black glaze continues down onto the foot of the vase where only the very edge is orange-red again.
This black figure lekythos was produced after the invention of red figure vase painting in the 520s BCE. Vessels in the earlier black figure technique were made well into the 5th century BCE and certain forms (notably Panathenaic amphorae and lekythoi) continued into the late 4th century in Athens. This lekythos should date to around the mid-5th century or possibly later due to the combination of primary and secondary decoration. Scenes of outdoor symposia are an Archaic phenomenon but they rarely included seated women, therefore this image was likely painted after about 470 when women as entertainers and guests were more commonly depicted. The meander border is introduced in the early 5th century and coincides with a gradual decrease in the use of vegetal patterns in secondary decorative zones. The combination of imagery here suggests a connection to the Mannerist school of red figure, which revived Archaic style and iconography including floral patterns, and thrived from the mid-5th to early 4th century BCE. The relatively careless style of the painting of the main scene and borders also suggests that this was produced well after the heyday of black figure and it is could be as late as the early 4th century BCE. Lekythoi were routinely buried in tombs and left as grave gifts to the dead. A vast number has been preserved. Artistically many are poor-quality pieces, especially the masses of black figure lekythoi made after the invention of red figure ware.
Lekythoi were used by the Ancient Greeks to hold olive oil. The narrow neck of the Lekythos was designed so that the flow of oil was limited to a thin stream or drops at a time, while the thick lip prevented wastage. Olive oil was sacred in Ancient Greece. The olive tree was given to the Athenians by their patron Goddess Athena. Harvested between November and March, the oil was utilized in an incredible variety of ways, including offerings and dedications for the dead, prizes for winning athletes at the Panathenaic Games, scented oils (perfume), consumption and athletics.
To prepare for training and competition Greek athletes covered their bodies with olive oil and then dusted themselves with fine sand; the oil and sand combined to help regulate the athletes body temperature as well as protect them from the sun. When their work out was complete the athletes would use a bronze scraper or strigil to remove this layer of oil and dust from their bodies.
Since these vases were mass produced and this lekythos is of ordinary decoration and condition as well as being of a later date, it was probably used in one of these many general fashions. An ordinary, everyday item that has been transformed by space and time into a precious reminder of what daily life in Ancient Greece might have been like for the men and women who lived there.
Author:Heather McKeown