Terracotta rim fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Unknown Artist
mid-5th century BCE
Medium
Terracotta
Classification
Vases
Culture & Period
Greek, Attic · 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
2011.604.1.369
Art Historical Context
This delicate terracotta rim fragment from kylix, or shallow drinking cup, hails from Attic Greece in the mid-5th BCE, the heart of the Classical period. in Athens, the epicenter of ancient Greek artistry, kylikes like this were essential for symposia—lively social gatherings where men reclined, debated philosophy, and shared wine. Though only a fragment survives, it evokes the refined elegance of everyday luxury in democratic Athens, a time when the city-state flourished culturally amid the Persian Wars' aftermath and the Golden Age under Pericles. Crafted from terracotta—a fired clay prized...