The water for her bridal bath would have been in a special tall vase called a loutrophoros.
A symbol of her work for the rest of her life was the epinetron - a pottery thigh protector which she wore over her leg when roving wool (getting the wool into rough "sausages" before spinning).
A famous one, in the National Museum at Athens (the Eretria epinetron) has a head and nude torso of a young girl on the end facing away from the user.
Red-figure epinetron decorated by the Eretria Painter circa 425 BC.
The epinetron, probably made more commonly in wood than terracotta, fitted over the woman’s knee and thigh in order to provide a working surface for carding wool.
This highly decorated version may perhaps have been intended as a wedding gift and depicts famous women of antiquity.
UC San Diego /All Locations(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-12)
Epinetron: Above-Alcestis In In Her Bridal Chamber; Below-Aphrodite With Harmonia, Peitho, Hebe & Ot /[Slide] AAL; AAL Slide ConCirc ; 331/6cz H638 Aa/Ere 27E(a)1a ; AVAILABLE
Epinetron: View 1: Alcestis In Her Bridal Chamber /[Slide] AAL; AAL Slide ConCirc ; 331/6cz H638 Aa/Ere 27E(a)1 ; AVAILABLE
Epinetron: View 1: Alcestis In Her Bridal Chamber: Det. /[Slide] AAL; AAL Slide ConCirc ; 331/6cz H638 Aa/Ere 27E(a)1a1 ; AVAILABLE
Perseus Vase: Harvard 1960.322(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-12)
There are two suspension holes below the woman's bust.
The Epinetron shape is sometimes mistakenly called an
The name refers to the fact that it was placed on the knee of a seated woman, who would rub wool against its scaly surface to separate the fibers before placing them on the distaff.
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United States of America Fascicule 25, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, Fascicule 2: Molly and Walter Bareiss Collection: Attic fl-figured oinochoai, lekythoi, pyxides, exaleiptron, epinetron, kyathoi, mastoid cup, skyphoi, cup-skyphos, cups
Previously unpublished Attic fl-figure ware from the Molly and Walter Bareiss collection in the J. Paul Getty Museum is included in this CVA.