Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Unknown Artist
490–480 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
2011.604.1.5406
Art Historical Context
This delicate terracotta fragment from a kylix—a shallow, stemless drinking cup popular in ancient Greek symposia—hails from Attic Greece around 490–480 BCE, the waning years of the Archaic period. Crafted in the renowned pottery workshops of Athens, such kylikes were essential for communal wine-drinking rituals among elite men, blending social bonding with philosophical discourse. Though only a piece survives, it evokes the vibrant world of late Archaic Athens, just before the Persian Wars reshaped Greek history. Attic terracotta vases like this one represent a pinnacle of ancient ceramic ar...