White-Ground Lekythos (Oil Vessel): Mourners at Tomb
Unknown Artist
c. 400s BCE, with modern painting
Medium
ceramic
Dimensions
h. 39.4 cm
Classification
Ceramic
Department
Greek and Roman Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1927.434
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
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.