Extremely rare Greek lekythos ceramic bowl used in the official flame lighting ceremony of the Torino 2006 Winter Olympics, which was held at the birthplace of the Olympic Games in Olympia, Greece on November 27, 2005. The glazed black bowl measures 6.25″ in diameter and 4.75″ in height, and features four hand-painted nude runners; the underside of the base is marked in Greek, “Olympic Torch Lighting, 27/11/2005, Torino 2006,” and is engraved with the name f the artist, “V. Siaterli.” The bowl contains its interior ceramic ring.
Among the pillars, in the ruins of the temple of Hera, beneath Kronos Hill, a reflective bowl is used to catch the rays of the sun and spark a flame sent by Apollo, the Greek god of sun and light. The flame is used to ignite the Olympic torch held by the High Priestess, and from this torch, the flame is passed, or kissed, to the lekythos bowl, which is carried into the ancient stadium and used as a conduit to light the first torch of the Olympic relay. Starting on December 8, 2005, the torch relay lasted 75 days and traversed over 11,300 km. In all, a total of 10,001 torchbearers carried the flame until it entered the Olympic Stadium on February 10, 2006. A unique artifact from the sacred Olympic flame lighting ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympiad.
