South Italian Black-Gloss Lebes Gamikos (Mixing Bowl for Weddings)

Second half of 4th century BCE

3 1/16 x 4 3/16 x 3/8 in. (7.7 x 10.7 x 1 cm)

This object has the following keywords:

• black - UCL (Universal Color Language) standard color name identifying a range of blackish colors. More specifically, black is an achromatic color of maximum darkness, referring to objects having little or no hue owing to the absorption of almost all light in the visible spectrum. In the context of pigments, black is theoretically the mixture of all colors. In the context of colors of light, black is the absence of light.
• ceramic glaze - Thin, opaque, vitreous coating that is applied to the surface of a ceramic body by painting, spraying, or dipping, in order to add color, texture, or water resistance to the object. The glaze is applied to the surface of a fired ceramic piece, and then the piece is refired at a temperature that vitrifies the glaze, but is lower than the original firing temperature. Ceramic glazes are usually mixtures of silicates, colorants, and flux.
• engobe - Slip glaze applied over a clay body to provide a smooth surface for further glazing or decoration, usually by dipping or brushing; contains color oxides as well as clay, feldspar, and silica.
• lebetes - Refers to ancient Greek small, deep bowls that curve in sharply at the shoulder and have a distinct neck with overhanging lip and round bottom designed so the bowl could sit on a stand. A lebes is equipped with a pair of high, upright handles at the shoulder and often with a domed cover topped by a tall, stemmed handle. Bronze lebetes were used for cooking and those made of terracotta were used for mixing wine. They are distinguished from "dinoi" by their smaller size. Many scholars in the past have used the term to refer to both the dinos and lebes, because they thought that the term dinos referred to a cup.
• lebetes gamikoi - An ancient Greek vessel type used in connection to marriage. It is generally thought to hold water for the ritual bath taken by the bride, and perhaps the groom, before the wedding. Another theory is that it was a container for the couple's food; there may also have been funerary uses as well. Pictures of a wedding procession or women preparing for marriage often appear on such vessels.
• rites of passage - Ritual ceremonies performed to facilitate or mark a person's change of status upon any of several important social and personal occasions, such as the onset of puberty.
• slip - Fine clay which, when mixed with water, results in a fluid with a creamlike consistency, used in casting, glazing, decorating, and repairing ceramic wares; in its natural state, it contains sufficient flux to be used for glazing and decorating without the need of additives. For ceramic glaze with a high content of slip, use "slip glaze."
• South Italian - Ancient pottery styles of southern Italy.
• weddings - Ceremonies or rites joining a couple in matrimony, with its attendant festivities. For the state of marriage, use "marriage (social construct)."

This object is a member of the following portfolios: