Terracotta rim fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Unknown Artist
6th/5th centuries BCE
Medium
Terracotta
Classification
Vases
Culture & Period
Greek, Attic · Archaic
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
2011.604.3.2197
Art Historical Context
This delicate terracotta rim fragment from kylix, a shallow drinking cup popular in ancient Greece, offers a glimpse into the vibrant of Archaic Attic pottery (6th–5th centuries BCE). Produced in Athens, the heart of Greek ceramic innovation, kylikes were essential for symia—lively social gatherings where elites reclined, drank wine, and debated philosophy or recited poetry. Though only a portion survives, such fragments reveal the precision of wheel-thrown terracotta, fired to a warm reddish hue before decoration. Attic vases from this period mark the transition from black-figure to red-figu...