Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)

Attributed to the Pharos Painter
ca. 550 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 155
Two women wrapped in one cloak

Lekythoi were traditionally placed as offerings in tombs or on grave monuments. The elongated shape of this example is typical of the earliest form. The subject of two women wrapped in one mantle was favored by the Pharos Painter (pharos is a word for "cloak"). There are also contemporary representations of two males with one cloak. The meaning may be sexual.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)
  • Artist: Attributed to the Pharos Painter
  • Period: Archaic
  • Date: ca. 550 BCE
  • Culture: Greek, Attic
  • Medium: Terracotta; black-figure
  • Dimensions: H. 6 7/8 in. (17.5 cm)
  • Classification: Vases
  • Credit Line: Gift of Samuel G. Ward, 1875
  • Object Number: 75.2.10
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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Attributed to the Pharos Painter - Terracotta lekythos (oil flask) - Greek, Attic - Archaic - The Metropolitan Museum of Art