Vase Catalog Number: London D 61

Decoration:

On the right just projecting from tall red and black reeds is the prow of Charon's boat. He sits inside, a bearded figure in a short chiton and a rough cap with a tall arching piece in the center of the crown. He leans forward on his oar, one end on the bank and the other held in his left hand against his left shoulder. He extends his right hand as if to welcome the woman advancing on the left. She holds in each hand a basket containing taeniae (fillets) and wears a long bordered chiton with apoptygma (overfold). The Reed Painter devotes much attention to Charon whose depiction is rare in the work of other painters. The reeds, too, are a signature of the painter, as is the prominence of the fillets.

The body is covered with a white slip, on which the design is drawn in red outline. Above the design is a band of meanders broken by dotted cross squares. On the shoulder is a pattern of three palmettes, painted in matt black on white. The petals of the palmettes are alternately red and black. Vermilion is used for hair, beard, and dress of Charon as well as for the border of the woman's chiton.

Parallels:

Group R lekythos with Charon (ARV2, 1384)

Shape Description:

standard shape

Sources Used:

Smith 1896, 406; Fairbanks 1907, II, no. 137; Kurtz 1975, 60 n.3, 62, 63 and n.11, 205, 221, 223, pl. 47, 3, pl. 49,4; Murray & Smith 1896, pl. 12

(Susan H. Allen)