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
2011.604.5.852a, b
Art Historical Context
These terracotta fragments from kylikes, or shallow drinking cups, hail from Attic Greece during the Archaic and Classical (6th–5th centuries BCE). Crafted by an unknown artist, they exemplify the pinnacle of ancient Greek pottery, a medium that served both practical and artistic purposes. Kylikes were essential for symposia—ively social gatherings where elites reclined, drank wine mixed with water, and engaged in philosophy, poetry, and revelry. Attic vases like these were wheel-thrown from fine clay, fired in kilns, and often decorated using innovative black-figure or red-figure techniques, ...