Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
second quarter of the 5th century BCE
Medium
Terracotta
Classification
Vases
Culture & Period
Greek, Attic · Classical
Department
Greek and Roman Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Dietrich von Bothmer, Distinguished Research Curator, Greek and Roman Art, 2011
Accession Number
2011.604.1.95
Art Historical Context
This terracotta fragment from a kylix, or shallow drinking cup, hails from Attic Greece in the second quarter of the5th century BCE, the vibrant Classical period. Attributed to the London D 12 Painter (a mannerist red-figure artist cataloged by scholar John Beazley), it the exquisite pottery produced in Athens at the height of its cultural and artistic dominance. Kylikes like this were essential for symposia—lively social gatherings where elite men reclined, drank wine mixed with water, and engaged in philosophical discourse, poetry, and games. Crafted in terracotta using the red-figure techn...