White ground lekythos depicting a youth and a girl at a tomb
Greek, Attic, ca. 440–430 B.C.
Terracotta, white ground, with added black, red, and yellow, 12 15/16 x 3 11/16 in. (32.8 x 9.4 cm)
Stephen Carlton Clark, B.A. 1903, Fund
1982.50
Offerings made at the tombs of dead Athenians often included pottery vessels filled with oil. In the years between 450 and 430 B.C., a specific form of vase—the white ground lekythos—became the favored choice for this purpose. White ground decoration consisted of a white slip that served as the background for figures and objects delineated in black lines and elaborated with colored washes. Due to the fragility and transience of the colored washes, this type of decoration was largely restricted to vessels functioning as tomb offerings. The scenes painted on white ground lekythoi are often funereal. On this vase, a youth and a girl are shown beside a tomb, possibly his. The tomb is indicated by a stele topped with a palmette—a popular type of sculpted funerary monument.
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