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White-ground oil flask (lekythos) with an oil-merchant's shop
Greek
Late Archaic Period
about 510-490 B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Greece, Attica, Athens
Medium/Technique
Ceramic, Black Figure, White Ground
Dimensions
Height: 24.6 cm (9 11/16 in.); diameter: 9.4 cm (3 11/16 in.)
Credit Line
Henry Lillie Pierce Fund
Accession Number99.526
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsVessels
DescriptionThree red-bearded men wearing mantles (himatia) and red head bands or wreaths are seated on folding stools with animal legs. The one at the left holds what looks like a flower in his right hand, and two staffs or long stalks with three-part, flower-like heads appear beside him. The middle man holds a rod in his right hand, and a staff with split end leans against his leg. The man at the right turns his head back to the others and holds a round object (probably a coin) in his right hand. A staff with split end leans agains his knee.
Four amphorae with incised central band are distributed between the men, and six lekythoi (small one-handled oil bottles) hang on the wall. A Doric column is at the right.
Condition: Repaired with restorations.
Four amphorae with incised central band are distributed between the men, and six lekythoi (small one-handled oil bottles) hang on the wall. A Doric column is at the right.
Condition: Repaired with restorations.
ProvenanceSaid to have been purchased in Gela, Sicily, by an unknown collector, Rome [see note 1]; sold by this collector to Edward Perry Warren (b. 1860 - d. 1928), Rome and London; 1899, sold by Edward Perry Warren to the MFA for $32,500 [see note 2].
NOTES:
[1] According to Edward Perry Warren in 1899, he purchased this from "a man always truthful in Rome," who acquired it in Terra Nuova (Terranova di Sicilia), present-day Gela. [2] This was the price for MFA accession nos. 99.338-99.542.
NOTES:
[1] According to Edward Perry Warren in 1899, he purchased this from "a man always truthful in Rome," who acquired it in Terra Nuova (Terranova di Sicilia), present-day Gela. [2] This was the price for MFA accession nos. 99.338-99.542.