These two small flasks are lekythoi, containers for olive oil; the singular is lekythos. The same artist, the Amasis Painter, decorated both, as well as other ceramic vessels in this case.

The piece on the right shows a wedding procession. The bride sits in a chariot drawn by a donkey. She holds a wreath and pulls her veil forward in a gesture associated with marriage in Greek art. Her bridegroom sits next to her, holding the reins. He has a beard and must be past his first youth. The bride is probably much younger than he is, as was common in ancient Athens.

The procession has almost reached its destination, a brightly painted doorway flanked with columns just under the handle of the vase. This is the bridegroom’s house, the place where the newlyweds are going to live. The bridegroom’s mother is coming out to welcome them, carrying a torch, for Greek wedding processions happened at night.

The wedding was the defining moment in an Athenian girl’s life. The other lekythos shows her most constant occupation, the making of textiles for her family’s use. Here, some women are spinning wool on hand-held spindles. Two shorter figures are working a loom, which textile historians have used to reconstruct Greek weaving techniques.

In ancient Athens, a good weaver was considered an attractive woman and also a good wife. This lekythos seems to link weaving with becoming a wife. Just above the loom on the shoulder of the vessel, you see a seated woman holding out her veil, just like the bride on the other lekythos. The pair of lekythoi might have been a wedding present for an Athenian bride in the sixth century B.C.