Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Unknown Artist
6th/5th centuries BCE
Medium
Terracotta
Classification
Vases
Culture & Period
Greek, Attic · Archaic/Classical
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
2011.604.5.519
Art Historical Context
This terracotta fragment from a kylix, or shallow drinking cup, hails from Attic Greece during the Archaic to Classical periods (6th/5th centuries BCE). Kylikes like this were essential to the symposion, lively social gatherings where elite men reclined, drank wine mixed with water, and engaged in intellectual discourse, poetry, and games. Though only a piece survives, it evokes the vibrant world of ancient Athens, where pottery was both utilitarian and a canvas for storytelling. Crafted in terracotta—a durable fired clay—Attic vases exemplify masterful techniques like black-figure (silhouett...