Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
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
2011.604.1.6568
Art Historical Context
This terracotta fragment comes from a kylix, the shallow, wide-rimmed drinking cup favored in ancient Greece for wine at symposia—lively gatherings of conversation, poetry, and ritual. Created in Athens between 490 and 480 BCE by the Colmar Painter during the Late Archaic period, the piece reflects a moment when Attic potters were refining the elegant red-figure technique, allowing for more naturalistic rendering of figures and drapery than earlier black-figure styles. Even as a fragment, the vessel offers valuable insight into the artistic personality of the Colmar Painter, whose works often...