Getty Museum

Attic White-Ground Lekythos

Date

about 490 B.C.

Medium

Terracotta

Culture

Greek (Attic)

Department

Vessels

Institution

Getty Museum

Object ID

09449769-a88f-4ef8-99c3-da253c5bfc02

On this Athenian white-ground lekythos attributed to Douris, two young warriors put on their armor, assisted by a woman and a young boy. The main lines of the bodies and clothing are drawn in black glaze, and the rest of the drawing is rendered with a brownish line made from diluted glaze. The words written between the figures are *kalos* inscriptions, praising Athenian youths. Large, white-ground lekythoi with outline drawing like this one are unusual in the early 400s B.C., yet four such lekythoi have been attributed to Douris. In the late 500s B.C., Athenian potters began to paint over the natural reddish color of their pottery with a highly purified clay that turned white when fired. Initially they applied this technique to a variety of shapes. However, because the white slip was rather fragile, by the mid- 400s B.C. artists limited the use of this technique to leykthoi used in funerary ritual.

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