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
2011.604.1.6569
Art Historical Context
This terracotta fragment once formed part of a kylix, the shallow drinking cup central to social gatherings in ancient Athens. Created between 490 and 480 BCE by the Colmar Painter during the Late Archaic period, the vessel belongs to the rich tradition of Attic pottery. Even in its surviving state, the fragment reveals the refined shapes and balanced proportions that defined Greek ceramics of this era. The Colmar Painter worked in Athens at a moment when artistic conventions were shifting from the rigid forms of the Archaic age toward the greater naturalism of the Classical period. As a spec...