Terracotta fragments of kylikes (drinking cups)
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
2011.604.5.529a, b
Art Historical Context
These terracotta fragments from kylikes—shallow, stemless drinking cups—offer a glimpse into the vibrant world of ancient Attic Greece during the Archaic and Classical periods (6th–5th centuries BCE).ed in the renowned pottery workshops of Athens, kylikes were essential for symposia, elegant male drinking parties where wine, philosophy, and poetry flowed. Though incomplete, these shards preserve echoes of the black-figure and early red-figure techniques that defined Attic vase-painting: incised silhouettes fired black against a red clay body, or figures reserved in red with added details in wh...