Iii.. Lekythoi
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UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) The Theseus Painter Style, Shapes and Iconography Borgers, O.E. Publication date 2003 Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Borgers, O. E. (2003). The Theseus Painter: Style, Shapes and Iconography. Eigen Beheer. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:26 Sep 2021 III.. LEKYTHOI 1.. Shape Thee second most popular vase-shape of the Theseus Painter is the lekythos, 25 of which can currently be e assignedd to him, that is, far fewer than his very numerous skyphoi. Nearly all the painter's lekythoi are the standardd cylindrical type, as also decorated by the Athena Painter. According to Haspels, this specific typee of lekythos might have been introduced by the Edinburgh Painter at around 500 B.C.232 However, shee also mentions the alternative possibility that the type might be an innovation of Gales or another painter/potter.233 3 Further,, in her view, at least one lekythos by the Theseus Painter, Cambridge G.3.1955 (Cat. no. 131, pLL 40 d-e), so closely resembles the general decoration and, especially, shape of the Edinburgh Painter's cylindricall lekythoi that it must have been made in that painter's workshop.34 Indeed, the shape of many off the Edinburgh Painter's lekythoi is very similar that of the Cambridge lekythos (fig. 54); compare for examplee Athens, NM 1130, by the Edinburgh Painter.235 Incidentally, the latter, as seen on the Cambridge lekythos,, shows the same use of different shades of white to distinguish the ground colour from the chitoniskoss of one human figure (Odysseus). As the device is not met in other work of the Theseus Painter,, it was perhaps a borrowing from the Edinburgh Painter. Thereforee it seems quite probable that the Theseus Painter (as well as the Athena Painter) decorated at leastt a portion of his lekythoi in the workshop which employed the Edinburgh Painter. It is furthermore possiblee that the Theseus Painter began as a decorator of lekythoi in that same lekythos workshop: the timee when the Theseus Painter switched to lekythoi appears generally to correspond more or less with the startt of the Athena Painter's career.236 Inn shape, the basic features of the Theseus Painter's lekythoi are: large conical mouth; high, narrow neck;; ridge between neck and shoulder; broad, flat handle; rather flat, sloping shoulder; nearly straight body,, curving inwards in the lowest section; high foot disk, sometimes with a ring or fillet between it and thee body. Some of the painter's lekythoi are relatively slender,237 with a more angular curve in the lower bodyy (figs. 57-59); others have a lower section which is more bulging and rounded, like some of the Edinburghh Painter's lekythoi (figs. 54-56). Thee Theseus Painter's lekythoi, like skyphoi, are most clearly marked by their dimensions and the shapee of their feet. The first group of lekythoi (Cat. nos. 125-131, pis. 38-40), as shown in figs. 54-56, aree very large. All of them are more than 30.0 cm high.238 The largest is Cambridge G.3.1955, with a heightt of 36.0 cm (Cat no. 131, pi. 40 d-e). Stylistically, these large lekythoi seem to be among the Theseuss Painter's earliest ones: transitional from middle period to late. They are comparable in style to thee Theseus Painter's latest skyphoi (see also Table 3b) and presumably contemporaneous with them, whichh would imply that he switched to lekythoi around the time he made his last skyphoi. Mostt of the Theseus Painter's lekythoi, on the other hand, measure between 20.0 and 30.0 cm in height (large).. His smallest known specimen is London 1904.7-8.5, only 16.5 cm high (Cat no. 138, pi. 43 d-e, fig*fig* 60), which, according to Haspels, is one of his latest lekythoi because of the absence of detail in the 2322 ABL 86. 2333 ABL 69,86. 234234 ABL 145. 2355 Haspels, ABL 217,27, pi. 293; ABV 476; Para 217; Beazley Addenda* 120. 2366 ABL 89, 141, 145, 147. See also Kurtz, AWL, 14-15. The notion that the starting point of the Athena Painter more or less correspondss with the moment when the Theseus Painter switched to lekythoi could be chronologically sound. The earliest lekythoi of thee Theseus Painter belong to his transitional period (c. 495-490 B.C., see development and chronology). The Athena Painter, however,, may have slightly preceded him, as his starting point is generally placed at around 500 or slightly afterwards. 2377 See, i.a., Bonn 307 (Cat no. 143, pL 46 a-b). 2388 Armonk, Pinney, 33.2 cm; Goulandris coll. 265, 34.0 cm; once Philadelphia market, 31.7 cm; San Antonio 86.134.54, 31.2 cm;; once Lucerne market, 30.0 cm (Cat nos. 125-30, pis. 38-40 c). 40 0 representation.representation.239239 In my view, however, the latter simply results from the small size of the lekythos, with relativelyrelatively little picture surface. However that may be, the London lekythos is certainly later than the Theseuss Painter's very large lekythoi. Variouss types of feet (or classes) can be recognized, which might be indicative of different potters who workedd in one or more workshops. Most feet of the Theseus Painter's lekythoi show a concave curve on thee vertical side of the plate and a rather sharp upper edge as well as sometimes a sharp lower one (figs. 57-59).. Other lekythoi have a large, rather plump torus foot disk whose vertical side either is slightly convexx (fig. 56)240 or curves inwards from top to bottom (figs. 54-55).241 Finally, the Theseus Painter is knownn to have decorated at least one lekythos with a foot plate in the shape of smallish, thin disk, (fig. 60),, comparable to fig. 56 but much more delicate and without a central spike. In addition, the foot is notablee because of its simple, unarticulated form which, insofar as I am aware, is not repeated in another lekythoss of the Theseus Painter. Moreover, the different types of feet appear to parallel the chronology of thee painter's style. The large lekythoi with heavy torus and echinus feet (figs. 54-56) are comparatively early,, whereas the others (figs. 57-60) can be designated as either late or very late.242 Brussels A 1953 (Catt no. 135, pi. 42 d-e) has the same plump, torus foot as Cat nos. 125-28, fig. 56, but because it is considerablyy smaller and its style of painting and drawing clumsier, it is probably slightly later than the largee lekythoi. Almostt exactly the same types of feet occur on lekythoi of the Athena Painter. Compare fig. 56 with fig.fig. 77, and figs. 57-59 with fig. 78.M3 However, Haspels* suggested chronological divisions for this painter'ss lekythoi with the various feet do not fully tally with my suggested line of development for the Theseuss Painter. In her lists, the Athena Painter's 27 early lekythoi exhibit all types of feet, although the majorityy of them are in the form of either a heavy torus disk or a echinus, as found on the Theseus Painter'ss large, comparatively early lekythoi.244 Relatively numerous are those with a concave side. Apartt from the standard cylindrical shape noted above, at least two of the Theseus Painter's lekythoi aree the very late chimney type, once in the Peyrefitte collection and Boston 21.277 (Cat nos. 146-47, pis. 466 d-f). The chimney-lekythos was widely manufactured by very late black-figure workshops, for example,, the Haimon Group. On the other hand, it is not known to have been a product of either the Athenaa Painter or the Edinburgh Painter. In shape, these two lekythoi of the Theseus Painter are closest to thee chimney-lekythoi of the Beldam Painter,245 who was a very late specialist in the type. Probably they issuedd from the workshop of that painter. Stylistically, they show the Theseus Painter's very late and clumsyy manner of painting and drawing. 2.. Painting and drawing Secondaryy decoration Thee secondary decoration of the Theseus Painter's lekythoi is less uniform than that of his skyphoi. Two kindss of shoulder decoration exist. Most frequently, the shoulder is surrounded by palmettes, "with tendrilss and bud at the outer palmettes", an ornament which, in Haspels' opinion, seems to have been 2399 ABL 146, 2400 Goulandris coll. 265; San Antonio 86.134.54 (Cat nos. 126,128, pis. 38 a-b, 39 a-c). 2411 Kerameikos 5671, once Lucerne market (Cat nos. 129,130, pL 40 a-c). 2422 The very late chimney lekythoi (Cat nos. 146-47, pb. 46 d-f) are not represented by drawings, but their feet are rather similarr to figs.