Terracotta rim fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
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
2011.604.5.880
Art Historical Context
This delicate terracotta rim fragment from kylix, or shallow drinking cup, offers a tantalizing glimpse into everyday luxury in ancient Attic Greece during the Archaic and Classical periods (6th–5th centuries BCE). Kylixes like this were essential at symposia—lively social gatherings where elite men reclined, drank wine mixed with water, and engaged in philosophical debates, poetry, and games. Crafted in the renowned Attic workshops, such vases were not mere vessels but canvases for storytelling, often adorned with black-figure or red-figure painting techniques that highlighted myths, athletes...