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Funerary marker in the form of an oil flask (lekythos)

Greek
Classical Period
c. 390 B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Greece, Attica, Athens

Medium/Technique Marble from Mt. Pentelikon near Athens
Dimensions Height: 115 cm (45 1/4 in.)
490 LBS DV
Credit Line Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Klejman
Accession Number63.1040
ClassificationsSculpture

Catalogue Raisonné Sculpture in Stone (MFA), no. 75.
DescriptionOn this large stone lekythos (a grave marker) the main scene shows a mature woman heavily draped and seated on a chair (klismos.) Her name, Nikagora, is inscribed. A mature man wearing a mantle draped over his left shoulder stands before her and his name, Timasitheos, is also given. The couple clasp their right hands in a tender farewell gesture known as dexiosis. Behind the seated woman, a more diminutive female figure stands, draped in a mantle. Her hair is contained in a sakkos, and it is likely she is a servant.

As with several similar examples (see Ny Carlsberg, Copenhagen), this one shows faint traces of painted floral decoration on the shoulder and a meander below the relief
ProvenanceBy 1963, John J. Klejman (dealer; b. 1906 - d. 1995), New York; 1963, gift of Mr. and Mrs. John J. Klejman to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 19, 1963)