Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Unknown Artist
490–480 BCE
Medium
Terracotta
Classification
Vases
Culture & Period
Greek, Attic · Late Archaic
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
2011.604.1.1220
Art Historical Context
This delicate terracotta fragment from a kylix, or shallow drinking cup, hails from Attic Greece around 490–480 BCE, during the Late Archaic. Crafted by an unknown artist, it offers a glimpse into the vibrant of ancient Athenian pottery, just before the dawn of the Classical era and the Persian Wars. Such vases were everyday luxury items, produced in workshops that turned clay into canvases for storytelling. Kylikes were essential to the symposium, intimate male gatherings where wine flowed amid philosophy, poetry, and revelry. Held horizontally to sip while reclining, these cups often featur...