Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Unknown Artist
520–500 BCE
Medium
Terracotta
Classification
Vases
Culture & Period
Greek, Attic · 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
2011.604.1.2894
Art Historical Context
This delicate terracotta fragment from a kylix, or shallow drinking cup, hails from Attic Greece around 520–500 BCE, during the vibrant Archaic period. Kylixes like this one were essential at symposia—lively social gatherings where elite men reclined, drank wine mixed with water, and engaged in intellectual discourse, poetry, and. Crafted in Athens, the heart of ancient Greek pottery production, this piece exemplifies the technical mastery of Attic vase-painters, who fired clay at high temperatures to create durable, elegant vessels often decorated with intricate scenes from mythology, daily l...