Lekythos

A lekythos (plural lekythoi) is a type of Greek pottery

Pottery of Ancient Greece

Thanks to its relative durability, pottery is a large part of the archaeological record of Ancient Greece, and because there is so much of it it has exerted a disproportionately large influence on our understanding of Greek society...

 used for storing oil, especially olive oil. It has a narrow body and one handle attached to the neck of the vessel. The lekythos was used for anointing dead bodies of unmarried men and many lekythoi are found in tombs. The images on lekythoi were often depictions of daily activities or rituals. Because they are so often used in funerary situations, they may also depict funerary rites, a scene of loss, or a sense of departure as a form of funerary art

Funerary art

Funerary art is any work of art forming or placed in a repository for the remains of the dead. Tomb is a general term for the repository, while grave goods are objects—other than the primary human remains—which have been placed inside...

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A lekythos (plural lekythoi) is a type of Greek pottery

Pottery of Ancient Greece

Thanks to its relative durability, pottery is a large part of the archaeological record of Ancient Greece, and because there is so much of it it has exerted a disproportionately large influence on our understanding of Greek society...

 used for storing oil, especially olive oil. It has a narrow body and one handle attached to the neck of the vessel. The lekythos was used for anointing dead bodies of unmarried men and many lekythoi are found in tombs. The images on lekythoi were often depictions of daily activities or rituals. Because they are so often used in funerary situations, they may also depict funerary rites, a scene of loss, or a sense of departure as a form of funerary art

Funerary art

Funerary art is any work of art forming or placed in a repository for the remains of the dead. Tomb is a general term for the repository, while grave goods are objects—other than the primary human remains—which have been placed inside...

. These drawings are usually outline drawings that are quite expressionless and somber in appearance. The decoration of these ceramic vessels consists of a dull red and black paint. These colors may have been derived from the Bronze Age

Bronze Age

The Bronze Age of a culture is the period when the most advanced metalworking in that culture utilised bronze. This could either have been based on the local smelting of copper and tin from ores, or trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere...

, but were not used until 530 B.C. in Athens. Many artists of these vessels attempt to add more color to the figures, but end up abandoning the idea as to leave more of a contrast. These vessels were very popular circa the 5th century B.C., however there are many that have been found dating all the way back to 700 B.C.

Lekythoi can be divided into five types:

• the standard or cylindrical lekythos, which measures between 30 and 50 cm though there are much larger lekythoi, up to 1 m, which may have been used to replace funerary stele
  Stele
  A stele is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief A stele ' onMouseout='HidePop("11832")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Corinth">Corinth

  Corinth

  Corinth, or Korinth Corinth, or Korinth Corinth, or Korinth (Greek Κόρινθος, Kórinthos is a city in Greece. In antiquity it was a city-state, on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece. To the west of the isthmus lies the Gulf of...

  
  , this form has an oval profile and a round shoulder and is generally of a small size (20 cm), it was produced from the beginning of the black figure period until the late 6th century,

• the secondary or shoulder lekythos, a variation on the standard type produced from the mid 5th century on, most are decorated with the white ground technique and measure around 20 cm,

• the squat lekythos, usually less than 20 cm in height with a rounded belly and a flat base,

• the acorn lekythos, a rarer form, which has an oval profile and a net of points at the base.