APC Image: AK 1142: Loutrophoros hydria from Y-Z. In the centre of the main zone two female figures stand facing each other holding a large wreath. Their hands and arms are concealed beneath their cloaks, which hang like shawls from the shoulders. The cloak of the left figure is purple with a border of dots and incised lines at the bottom, and her chiton, edged with a simple border of incised lines, is black and decorated with small rosettes. The figure on the right wears drapery with the same patterns in the reverse order, the chiton of the one resembling the cloak of the other. A purple stripe along the front edge of the second woman's cloak is probably intended to indicate the lining. Below each of the horizontal handles is a panther with long neck and head bent back so as to come directly beneath the handle. In the rear of the main zone are two male figures facing away from each other, and between them, below the veritcal handle, is the figure of a crane (?). The neck of the vase is decorated with a procession of four female figures to right, each carrying wreaths. They resemble the women in the lower zone, but the patterns on their drapery vary with each figure. The stereotyped figures are probably conceived of as taking part in the wedding ceremony for which the vase was intended. The rim is decorated with a simple meander in white paint, and on all the handles are single rows of heart-shaped leaves, likewise in white. The decoration on the shoulder consists of a simple tongue pattern in black, and underneath the main zone are tall rays, while blobs and rosettes are used as fillers between the figures. The symmetrical grouping of the figures on the body of the vase, as contrasted with the less formal arangement on the next, give a structural unity to the decoration which is not vitiated by the repetition of almost identical figures in the two zones. The excellent preservation of the white and purple, contrasting vividly with the black against the red color of the clay, and the crisp rendering of the quaint figures combine to make this vase one of the finest examples of its kind.