Greece, Athens (Attic), ca. 500 BCE. A very fine Attic lekythos that is extensively decorated via the black-figure technique, presenting an action-packed scene of Athena battling a giant, flanked by two Amazons on horseback, each one wearing a fancy helmet and wrapped in a cloak. The painter further imbued the figures with added/fugitive red and white pigment as well as incised details. In the field between the heads of the figures are dotted and linear bands, and double fretted bands adorn the shoulder. A wonderful Attic black-figure vessel with a fabulous gigantomachy theme featuring the Olympian goddess Athena fighting a falling earth-born giant. Size: 6.125" H (15.6 cm)
Lekythoi were used for storing oil used for a wide variety of purposes in the Classical World. While larger examples were usually designated for keeping olive oil, smaller more delicate examples like this one were reserved for the bath to store precious unguents of sweet and floral aromas. This beautiful vessel was most likely created for the toilette of an elegant lady who perhaps possessed confidence and strength approaching that of the goddess Athena!
See another Attic black-figure lekythos depicting Athena combatting a giant at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) - https://collections.lacma.org/node/230277
Provenance: private Alabama, USA collection; ex-Roy Green collection; ex-Royal-Athena Gallery, New York, USA; ex-private Austrian collection
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#148683
Condition
Small area of repair to the spout. Expected nicks/chips to rim and base commensurate with age. Normal surface wear with a few scuffs/scratches/nicks and minor pigment losses as shown. This said, the painted/incised iconographic and decorative programs are still strong. Scattered mineral deposits grace the surface as well.