The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 24, 2024

White-Ground Lekythos (Oil Vessel): Mourners at Tomb

White-Ground Lekythos (Oil Vessel): Mourners at Tomb

c. 400s BCE, with modern painting
Overall: 39.4 cm (15 1/2 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Both stylistic and technical studies suggest that this vase is not wholly ancient.

Description

In its basic shape and decorative scheme—three figures before a stepped tomb marker—this lekythos resembles hundreds of funerary vessels made in Athens during the fifth century (400s) BC. But unusual features of the painted decoration, including the multicolored palmettes on the shoulder, and the shoes worn by the youth, suggest a modern intervention. Zinc found in analysis of the white ground is also likely modern, although the vessel itself may be ancient.
  • ?-1926
    Dr. Jacob Hirsch, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1927-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • R. H. "Orestes Sarcophagus and Greek Accessions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 15, no. 4 (1928). Illustrated p. 86, mentioned p. 91.
  • Stories From Storage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).
  • {{cite web|title=White-Ground Lekythos (Oil Vessel): Mourners at Tomb|url=false|author=|year=c. 400s BCE, with modern painting|access-date=24 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1927.434