White-Ground Lekythos Attributed to the Bowdoin Painter in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, June 2018

White-ground Lekythos (Storage Vessel) (Primary Title)

attributed to, Bowdoin Painter (Artist)

Date: ca. 480 BC

Culture: Greek (Attic)

Category: Ceramics
Containers-Vessels

Medium: terracotta

Collection: Ancient Art

Dimensions: Overall: 7 5/8 × 2 3/4 in. (19.368 × 6.985 cm)

Object Number: 56.27.4


In this scene, winged Nike approaches an altar with a phiale, a libation bowl used for making offerings to the gods and the dead. In the white-ground technique, the potter covered part of a vessel with a white slip to which additional painted decoration could be added either before or after firing. White-ground lekythoi were often used in funerary rituals and, sometimes, as grave markers.

Text from: www.vmfa.museum/piction/6027262-15459676