F. J.

Hastie - 2024

Attic Lekythoi - A Dynamic History of Use and Art

Fig 1. - Lekythos NM47.19 with Nike painted by Aischines painter

As red-figure pottery boomed during the 6th and 5th centuries, the artefact NM47.19 is a highly
normative piece of pottery that displays all the characteristic cultural symbols and pottery shapes that
dominated this period of Attic pottery. The art style of red-figure painting was the popular style of
Athens at this period, and the display of Nike on this pot was also a common feature being found
post-Persian Wars, as Athens entered a new age of wealth and cultural dominance. Furthermore, this
stylisation of lekythos appears in the material record in this period and reflects certain styles
becoming more dominant and fashionable. Finally, by examining the stylisation of the art and figures
on the pot we can observe that this is most likely by the Aichenesse Painter, which is corroborated
with other pots attributed to him who have near-identical styles.

The state of clay artefacts can illustrate much about the providence and use of the artefact - the intact
nature of NM47.19 means that we can start to narrow down certain factors. Lekythos production
distinctly appears in the middle of the 6th century, and throughout its history, its use in holding oils
and other high-value liquids made it a far-spread design, blending from the household to ritual use
(Moore, 1997, pg. 45). Kathleen Lynch’s (2011) study on a well deposition within the Athenian Agora
gives us an insight into the types of pottery and quantity being found within the local area in Athens
roughly around the time before and after Persian razing of Athens in c.480. Well J 2:4 is found within
a private household in the Agora which was occupied from the Archaic Period until Roman
occupation where it was covered by a temple: 1994 excavations led to the discovery of a filled well

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which had extensive pottery sherds in it as well as whole pottery remains (pg. 1). The well which was
filled up following the Persian destruction of Athens has extensive black-figure and red-figure pottery
remains, located away from ritual sites which helps us to gain an understanding of the household use
for objects, such as the lekythos (Lynch, 2011, 146). Lynch estimates that lekythoi being found within
the household settings around the well were serving a dual purpose as a condiment jug for oils to
flavour food with, as well as to carry perfumed oils for toiletry purposes (pg. 149, 159). However, we
can most likely rule out NM47.19 from being used within the household like the lekythoi found
within well J 2:4 due to its condition being relatively undamaged and the fact that a well-known
lekythos painter - the Aischines painter, who will be addressed more later in this essay - adorned this
vessel, while the larger percentage of the pots in the well was made up of the less popular black-figure
style (Lynch, 2011, pg. 11, 24-25; Trendall, 1951, pg. 187).

Funerary use is the other major use for lekythoi in Greece, as a ritual offering of oil was custom from
the archaic period into the Classical, and makes up the larger percentage of whole lekythos artefacts
(Moore, 1997, pg. 45; Sparkes, et. al. 1970, pg. 150). R. C. Bosanquet’s (1899) case study of funerary
lekythoi provides an insightful perspective into the dominance of the lekythos in funerary rites both in
physical presence as well as the iconography ascribing the pots themselves. Two exemplary pieces of
funerary lekythoi are pots D48 and D53 from the British Museum (Bosanquet, 1899).

Fig 2. Pot D48 - lekythos showing a mistress and her maid carrying a mantle

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Fig 3. Pot D53 - lekythos showing mistress and maid creating wreaths for graves

These clearly express the emerging tradition of application of funerary and household scenes on what
was becoming predominantly a funerary item in Athens from the quarter of the 5th century to its close
(Kurtz, 1975, pg. 33). Furthermore the dominance of intact funerary lekythoi can help us better
understand the condition of NM47.19 perhaps: household pottery or courseware was unlikely to be
found wholly as it is typical for heavily used objects to be worn and broken by use, as what is found
partially in well J 2:4. Therefore we can conclude that NM47.19 was highly likely to be a funerary or
ritual lekythos, extracted from a cemetery or tomb around Athens.

Yet a fundamental difference is apparent from NM47.19 and fig. 1 and fig. 2, and that would be that
this lekythos predates the emergence of White Lekythoi in Athens which were the predominant form
of lekythoi to be used in the normative funerary practices (Bosanquet, 1899; Kurtz, 1975; Rahn,
1986). Red-Figure Athenian pottery emerged out of the Black-Figure painting tradition and was the
dominant form of fineware painting from the third quarter of the 6th century (Moore, 1997; Richter,
1936, pg. 5). The use of contrast overshadows the previous styles of black figure colouring, allowing
for bolder more dynamic characters who stand out against a contrasted background (Richter, 1936).
The change in art also coincides with the introduction of the cylinder lekythos, which allowed for a
better framing for single or paired figures which was the dominant style of lekythoi after this change
(Moore, 1997, pg. 45). NM47.19 fits into the period that Richter prescribes as the Early Freehand
Period (475-450 BCE), which was a further development of the ‘high’ period of Red-Figure painting
that had been dominated with figures such as Douris (pg. 87, 122).

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Fig. 4 - Nike attributed to Douris ca. 480–470 BCE

The Aischines Painter is a well-known figure in this period for his lekythos-specific output, which
leaves a readily recognisable stylistic footprint: a painted body, containing generally a woman figure
facing to the left, with plants and a geometric pattern decorating the shoulder of the vase (Saperstein,
2013).

Fig 5 & 6 - Lekythos E609 from the British Museum; Lekythos 48.255 from the Walters Art Museum
[both attributed to Aischines Painter]

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Fig. 7 - top angle of Lekythos 48.255 showing floral spray

Fig. 6-7 all are further comparanda of the Aischine Painter’s stylisation, which reinforces the evidence
that the painter of NM47.19 is the Aischines Painter. However, we can see that he is stylistically
predating the White Lekythos, so the pot must have been painted with a far more open interpretation
to its intended use, but still most likely ended up as a ritual or funerary offering due to its condition
being nearly identical with funerary lekythoi like D48 and D53.

The iconography of Nike, or more specifically Athena Nike in the Attic tradition, is a repetitive
feature that appears on NM47.19, fig. 4 and many other contemporary vases, and with an examination
of the period that they coincide with, it becomes apparent why. Athens was the site of an early
6th-century Athena Nike cult, which was later destroyed by the Persians, leading them to rebuild the
site with the current Temple of Athena Nike in the late 5th century (Gill, 2001; Stewart, 1985). Nike,
as the goddess of victory, boomed as an iconographic figure following the victory by the Panhellenic
allies over Persia, and coinage, pots and temples all indicate this association with victory specifically
over the Persians (Sikes, 1895, pg. 281). As Athens was the site of a cult of Athena Nike and her site
was razed by the Persians, the connection with her following the successful battle at Salamis and the
rebuilding of Athens would have been poignant in terms of celebrating Athenian victory as well as
accession to dominance (Sikes, 1895; Stewart, 1985). Painters at this time began to react to this
theme, as illustrated by fig. 4, NM47.19 and countless other Nike commemorative pots which can be
found in catalogues like Richter’s (1936) of the Metropolitan Museum.

With all this in consideration, we can make a few clear dissertations on the vase NM47.19: it is a
Red-Figured cylinder lekythos, in the style of the Aischines Painter, that most likely was located at a
burial or ritual site, illustrating the iconographic theme of Nike, which had become dominant due to
the cult of Athena Nike in Athens and the conclusion of the Persian war with Panhellenic victory.
Lynch (2011) indicates that due to the state of the pots found within the household context, we can
rule out NM47.19 emerging out of this context. Bosanquet (1899) illustrates the recurrence and
popularity of lekythos as funerary items and contextualises the period which followed just after the
Aischines Painter’s period, which his period of painters undoubtedly helped produce. Using
comparanda we can see the emergence of Red-Figure painting which led to the period in which the

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pot is produced, as well as fellow lekythoi by the Aischines Painter which exemplify his figure style,
floral spray and geometric decorations. Therefore, it is apparent that this pot stylistically and
physically presents a normative piece of lekythos pottery due to its painting style, themes and shape,
and likely was used traditionally in a funerary or ritual way due to its condition that it has found itself
within the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney.

Image References

Fig. 1: Aischines Painter. ca.475-450 BCE Lekythos [vase/pot] Sydney: The Chau Chak Wing
Museum
https://www.sydney.edu.au/museums/collections_search/#search-results&view=details&id=ad6d&mo
dules=ecatalogue%3Benarratives%3Beevents%3Beparties&keywords=nm47.19
Fig. 2: Attributed to Achilles Painter. ca.460-430 BCE Lekythos D48. [vase/pot] London: The British
Museum. 1874,1110.1
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1874-1110-1?_gl=1%2as93r6u%2a_up%2aMQ..
%2a_ga%2aMTgwMjM1MzU4OC4xNzEzODM1NTk5%2a_ga_08TLB9R8X1%2aMTcxMzgzNTU
5OS4xLjAuMTcxMzgzNTU5OS4wLjAuMA..
Fig. 3: Attributed to Achilles Painter. ca.460-430 BCE Lekythos D53 [vase/pot] London: The British
Museum. 1876,0328.3
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1876-0328-3?_gl=1%2a5esecc%2a_up%2aMQ..
%2a_ga%2aMjEwMDM4MDMyLjE3MTM4MzU2Mjg.%2a_ga_08TLB9R8X1%2aMTcxMzgzNTY
yNy4xLjAuMTcxMzgzNTYyNy4wLjAuMA..
Fig. 4: Attributed to Douris. ca.480-470 BCE Lekythos [vase/pot] New York: The Metropolitan
Museum of Art. 25.78.1
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/251799?deptids=13&when=1000+B.C.-A.D.+
1&where=Greece&what=Lekythoi&ft=*&offset=40&rpp=40&pos=57
Fig. 5: Aischines Painter. ca.475-450 BCE Lekythos [vase/pot] London: The British Museum.
1842,0728.990 https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1842-0728-990
Fig. 6 & 7: Aischines Painter. ca.475-450 BCE Lekythos [vase/pot] Baltimore: The Walter Art
Museum. 48.255
https://art.thewalters.org/detail/28165/shoulder-lekythos-with-woman-and-floral-spray/

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