Exaleiptra

Ancient Greek containers for liquid, perhaps perfume (scented oil), with a very distinctive shape: an oblate spheroid bowl with turned-in rim, short or tall foot, and lid with finial. The lids are rarely preserved. In vase paintings the exaleiptron most often appears in scenes of women bathing or participating in funerary rituals. Other ancient names have sometimes been used in modern times to refer to this vessel shape: kothon, plemochoe, and smematotheke (or smegmatotheke).