Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Unknown Artist
second quarter 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
2011.604.1.282
Art Historical Context
This terracotta fragment from kylix, or shallow drinking cup, hails Attic Greece in the second quarter of the 5 century BCE, during the period's golden age. Produced in Athens, the epicenter of ancient Greek pottery, such kylikes were essential for symposia—lively social gatherings where men reclined, drank wine mixed with water, and engaged in philosophical discourse, poetry, and games. Though only a fragment survives, it evokes the refined elegance of everyday luxury in democratic Athens under Pericles. Attic vases like this one represent the pinnacle of red-figure pottery techniques, where...