Extremely rare Greek lekythos ceramic bowl used in the official flame lighting ceremony of the Nagano 1998 Winter Olympics, which was held at the birthplace of the Olympic Games in Olympia, Greece on December 19, 1997. The glazed black bowl measures 6.25″ in diameter and 4.75″ in height, and features two hand-painted figures during the torch lighting ceremony; the underside of the base is marked in Greek, “Handmade by Ioulia H. Karagrouna, 19.12.97.” 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. From there, the Olympic flame traveled to Tokyo, arriving on December 23, 1997, when it was soon split into three flames at a ceremony in the Yoyogi Athletic Park on January 4, 1998. They were taken by plane to three destinations—the Eastern Japan route (Hokkaido), the Pacific Ocean route (Kagoshima), and the Sea of Japan route (Okinawa)—and, upon entering Nagano Prefecture from the north, south, and east, the flames were reunited in Central Square on February 6th. The relay lasted a total of 51 days, traveled over 3,400 km, and featured over 6,900 torchbearers. A most precious artifact from the sacred Olympic flame lighting ceremony of the 1998 Winter Olympiad.
