A Centuripe Lekanis with Lid (Sicily) Hellenistic Period, Circa 3rd Century BC Earthenware with traces of white, red and blue paint Height as Assembled 41.5 cm Diameter of Foot 13 cm Diameter of Bowl (excluding handles) 35.3 cm Diameter of Bowl (including handles) 54.4 cm Diameter of Conical Lid 35.1 cm Reference M.E. Mayo, 'The Art of South Italy Vases from Magna Graecia', 1982 Note (a) Centuripe was a city of the Siculi, an ancient Sicilian tribe. Located in eastern Sicily, it was described by Cicero as a prosperous city. In the 5th century B.C. it was Hellenized, adopting Greek customs and aligning itself with Athens in the Peloponnesian War. It remained independent, almost without interruption, until it was conquered by Rome in the First Punic War. (b) This lekanis belongs to a class of Hellenistic ceramic that was produced in Centuripe during the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C. It consists of three separate section (i) moulded foot; (ii) large bowl with moulded base-ring and two strap handles; and (iii) high conical lid. The zone between the handles carries a frieze framed below by a line of bead-and-reel decoration, and above by the moulded rim of the bowl. This highly decorative frieze presents arabesques of foliated scrolls with flowers and Erotes, and in the centre a Medusa head. The strap handles are adorned with acanthus leaves at the point they join the bowl. Acanthus leaves also appear at the base of the bowl. All parts of this elaborate relief decoration serve as symbols of immortality. Indeed the purpose of this lekanis can only have been funerary, its three separate sections being a totally impractical arrangement for everyday use