Large Ancient Greek Attic Blackware Lebes Gamikos

Ancient Greece, Athens, ca. 5th century BCE. A beautiful and sizable pottery lebes gamikos with a squat footed base, a gradually widening body, a rounded shoulder with four raised nubbins, a petite rim on which rests a discoid lid with a knob-shaped handle, and a pair of high-arching parabolic handles. The lid fits perfectly around the rim of the vessel, and its minimalist presentation is only embellished with a single incised band around the handle. Most of the vessel and lid are covered in a lustrous black glaze with only the interior of the vessel, the foot, and the underside of the lid uncolored. With beautiful traces of silvery and rainbow-hued iridescence scattered across the glazed surfaces, this is a fine example from ancient Athens! Size: 6.5" Diameter x 5.5" H (16.5 cm x 14 cm)

Lebes gamikos (plural is lebetes gamikoi) vessels are important and highly symbolic vessels created in the Classical world. High handles and ornate designs characterize this particular style and were used primarily in times of great happiness or immense sorrow. This form of pottery is used during ancient marriage ceremonies. Its name literally translates to "marriage vase," and it was used to ritualistically sprinkle the bride with water prior to the wedding. Lebetes gamikoi were also an integral component of funerary rituals, used to consecrate the body of and act as a grave marker for women who died without experiencing the act of betrothal.

Provenance: private East Coast collection, New York Gallery, New York, New York, USA; ex-private Orange County, California, USA collection, acquired before 2000

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#157160
Condition Report: Vessel repaired from multiple large pieces with some small areas of restoration, resurfacing, overpainting, and light adhesive residue along break lines. Surface wear and chips to base, minor abrasions commensurate with age, light fading to glazed pigmentation, and some light roughness across most surfaces. Light earthen deposits throughout.