Part of a loutrophoros-hydria decorated in the red-figure technique. It was found in 1957 in the Sanctuary of the Nymphe in fragments, was pieced together and restored.

On the vessel’s neck four women participating in a loutrophoria procession are depicted. One of them, chosen by the bride’s family, is carrying the decorated loutrophoros for the nuptial bath.

On the body of the vase the bride’s arrival to the groom’s house is presented. She has been taken there on a quadriga driven by the groom himself, who is depicted wearing a wreath. Next to him stands the bride with her head covered, while, behind him, the hands of a winged figure holding a white ribbon can be discerned. Next to the chariot are two women. The former, perhaps the groom’s mother, welcomes the couple holding a torch lit from her family hearth. In front of the chariot, the groom’s father is probably depicted holding a staff, while behind him, the lit altar most likely symbolises the family hearth. On the other side of the altar a figure appears to poke the fire with a stick, whereas a second figure has been fragmentarily preserved.

The hearth, a point of reference for the oikos, is where worshipping the ancestral gods took place. According to the wedding traditions when newlyweds entered their new house they had to go to the hearth to appease the gods, since, if they didn’t the gods might envy and harm them.