The lekythos has been attributed to the Beldam Painter, an Attic black figure vase painter active in the Athenian region around the first half of the 5th century BC. One of the characteristics of his artistic production are the garlands of ivy, sometimes rendered as simple outlines, as seen on this fine example, to the lekythoi’s shoulders and necks. The style of the Beldam Painter appears really close to the production of another Attic painter, the Haimon Painter.
White-ground lekythoi were made almost exclusively for the use in funerary rituals, to store oil. The clay used for this technique turned white when fired and allowed potters to apply pigment on top, after firing. Initially the design was used on other shapes however around the middle of the 5th century the technique was used solely for lekythoi. One explanation for this shift could be the delicate nature of the white-slip, it did not survive well on pottery used frequently but could survive on the single-use funerary flasks. Scenes depicted on white-ground lekythoi usually depicted imagery related to death and funerary rituals.
To find out more about different types of Greek vessel please see our relevant blog post: Collecting Greek Vases.