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Oil flask (lekythos) with a woman working wool
Greek
Early Classical Period
about 480–470 B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Greece, Attica, Athens
Medium/Technique
Ceramic, Red Figure
Dimensions
Overall: 33.2 x 12 cm (13 1/16 x 4 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Bartlett Collection—Museum purchase with funds from the Francis Bartlett Donation of 1912
Accession Number13.189
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsVessels
Catalogue Raisonné
Caskey-Beazley, Attic Vase Paintings (MFA), no. 029; Highlights: Classical Art (MFA), p. 117.
DescriptionAn elegant woman is seated pulling out a skein of wook from her wool basket (kalathos). She wears earrings, bracelets on both arms, a diadem, and an Ionic chiton and himation. She has an elaborate hairstyle, with part of her hair tied up in a bun, and long strands pulled down in the front. She pulls a long strip of wool out of a basket on ground before her. A hair-bag (sakkos) and mirror are hung up in field. The mirror is decorated with a head in profile drawn in outline, which probably represents a relief on the back of the mirror. The object hanging off her chair may be a wool-carder. Above her in the field is the Greek inscription: "the girl [is pretty])" (HE PAIS KALE).
Inscriptions"The girl [is pretty])" (HE PAIS [KALE]).
ΗΕΠΑΙS
ΗΕΠΑΙS
ProvenanceBy 1912: with Edward Perry Warren (according to Warren's records: from Gela); purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren, January 2, 1913, for $18,948.70 (this figure is the total price for MFA 13.186-13.245)