Lekythos for cosmetics. Attic Greece, 5th century... Lot 36

Lekythos for cosmetics. Attic Greece, 5th century BC. Ceramic with the red-figure technique. It has fracture line restorations on the neck and foot. Size: 11 x 4 cm. Lekythos that stands out for its great rarity, since as ornamentation it presents the figure of a winged mermaid located in the central body. The lekythos or lekitos is a type of Greek pottery used to store perfumed oil for body care. This type of vessel was also often used as funerary vessels, not only in Greek cities, but also by other peoples who had contact with this culture. They are characterised by their elongated shape, narrow neck and wide mouth, which both limits the flow of oil and facilitates its application. Red-figure ware was one of the most important figurative styles of Greek pottery. It was developed in Athens around 530 BC, and was used until the 3rd century BC. It replaced the previous predominant style of black-figured pottery within a few decades. The technical basis was the same in both cases, but in the red figures the colouring is inverted, with the figures highlighted against a dark background, as if illuminated by a theatrical light, following a more natural scheme. Painters working with black figures were forced to keep the motifs well separated from each other and to limit the complexity of the illustration. The red-figure technique, on the other hand, allowed greater freedom. Each figure was silhouetted against a black background, allowing the painters to portray anatomical details with greater accuracy and variety. Over time these decorations became more complex, incorporating numerous details in both black and white, which enhanced the narrative and decorative sense of the depictions. The value placed on these works meant that they were the subject of a flourishing trade and industry. Pottery painters and the masters who made the pieces in clay were highly prized in ancient Greece, and works in both the black-figure and red-figure techniques were created throughout the Mediterranean, both in Greek cities of population and foundation and in the potteries of those peoples who had contact with these same nuclei.