Athenian pottery technique, especially of the 5th century BC, where white slip was applied to the vessel surface and the decoration painted on that. The white-ground lekythoi - funerary vases with the figures painted in color against a white background - are the most common shapes employing this technique. It was also used on monumental funerary lekythoi. The white-ground lekythoi are believed to be the most reliable source information about monumental Greek paintings of the Classical period.