Czére Andrea szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei (Budapest, 2007)
ANDRÁS MÁRTON AND GYÖRGY NEMES: Corinthian White-Ground Lekythoi
CHIMNEY LEKYTHOI Chimney lekythoi were not popular in Attica, and the type did not become so among Corinthian potters either. 80 Apart from the vase by the Beldam Painter mentioned above, we knowonly one other piece of this shape made in Corinth. Its decoration has completely disappeared; the circumstances of its discovery arc unknown. Its shape follows the form preferred by the Beldam Painter and the Emporion Painter. It was possibly made in the early phase of Corinthian white-ground production, when the potters were still under the influence of the Beldam Painter's workshop. DECORATION AND ICONOGRAPHY Apart from very uncertain traces on some of the vases from group i, figurai decoration can only be found on lekythoi from groups ii and iii. The duel scene on the vase in Budapest is unique in its iconography. This is the only vase from group ii on which the figurai scene can be reconstructed. The figurai decoration (both technique and iconography) on vases from group iii can best be studied on the pieces in Budapest and Nantes, both of which are decorated with a female figure. What is left of the decoration on the rest of the lekythoi is in the form of marks and preliminary sketch. Their iconography follows the well-known themes of Attic whiteground lekythoi. The vase in Nantes portrays a visit to a grave, 81 which is the most frequent figurai scene on Attic white-lekythoi in the middle and late phase of their production. The preserved traces of the other compositions (standing female and male figures, in one instance with a grave stele, seated female figure) that are left to us reveal little about the iconography of the whole picture. Based on Attic parallels, it is possible that female figures are depicted in their homes, in a domestic setting, 82 perhaps combined with other elements (female or male figures, a grave stele). A woman holding a box could be depicted at home in preparation to visit a grave, or already in the cemetery next to a stele where she decorates the grave with ribbons (zaivia) in the box. 83 The cloak (?) hanging behind a female figure or the mirror on the Budapest vase may also refer to a domestic context, but the iconography of the Attic lekythoi warns us that the scenes of the cemetery and of the domestic sphere had already merged at an early stage. 84 The most varied ornament can be found on the vases of group i. The motifs clearly belong to the Beldam Workshop. Lekythoi with floral designs arc most often decorated with a horizontal ivy branch where ivy leaves interchange with berries. These motifs are already found on Attic black-figure vases, where they had become ornamental by the end of the sixth century BC, and also on the vases of the Berlin Painter. 8 ' It becomes most popular as a motif of the ornamental lekythoi of the Beldam Workshop: on the early pieces of the Beldam Painter,
