White-ground Lekythos (Storage Vessel) (Primary Title)
attributed to, Bowdoin Painter, Greek, ca. 500 – ca. 475 BC (Artist)
In this scene, winged Nike (goddess of victory) approaches an altar with a phiale, a libation bowl used for making offerings. Libations were offerings made in religious ceremonies (Apollo on the nearby red-figure amphora also pours a libation over an altar) both to the gods and to the dead. This type of vessel, called a lekythos, was made for holding perfumes and unguents; its narrow mouth ensured that these expensive liquids could be poured out carefully. Lekythoi were often used in funerary rituals and could even be used as grave markers and many are found as grave goods deposited with the dead.
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