Detail of a Terracotta Lekythos Attributed to the Amasis Painter in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, August 2019

Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)
ca. 550–530 B.C.


Object Details

Title: Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)

Attributed to the Amasis Painter

Period: Archaic

Date: ca. 550–530 B.C.

Culture: Greek, Attic

Medium: Terracotta; black-figure

Dimensions: H. 6 3/4 in. (17.15 cm)

Classification: Vases

Credit Line: Fletcher Fund, 1931

Accession Number: 31.11.10


On the shoulder, a seated woman, perhaps a goddess, is approached by four youths and eight dancing maidens
On the body, women are making woolen cloth.

One of the most important responsibilities of women was the preparation of wool and the weaving of cloth. Here, in the center, two women work at an upright loom. To the right, three women weigh wool. Farther to the right, four women spin wool into yarn, while between them finished cloth is being folded.


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/253348