Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Unknown Artist
mid-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
2011.604.1.850
Art Historical Context
This terracotta fragment from a kylix, a shallow drinking cup popular in ancient Greece, hails from Attic workshops in the mid-5th century BCE during the Classical period. Produced in Athens, the heart of Greek pottery innovation, kylikes like this were essential for symposia—ively social gatherings where men reclined, drank wine, and debated philosophy or poetry. Though only a piece survives, it exemplifies the exquisite craftsmanship of Attic vase painters, who mastered wheel-thrown terracotta fired to a warm reddish hue, often adorned with intricate black-figure or red-figure scenes depicti...