Terracotta kylix (drinking cup)
ca. 420 BCE
Medium
Terracotta
Dimensions
H.: 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm) Diam.: 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm)
Classification
Vases
Culture & Period
Greek, Attic · Classical
Department
Greek and Roman Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1909
Accession Number
09.221.38
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the lively world of Classical Athens with this exquisite terracotta ky, a shallow drinking cup crafted by the Washing around 420 BCE. Attic Greek vases like this one were everyday treasures, essential for symposia— famous male drinking parties where philosophers debated poets recited. The Washing Painter, an anonymous master of red-figure pottery named for his depictions of women at their ablutions, specialized in capturing the human form with graceful vitality during Athens' golden age of democracy and drama. In the red-figure technique, the artist painted black slip around figures...