kylix

This is an Attic black-figure kylix, a drinking cup of a type widely exported across the Mediterranean during the period of Magna Graecia. Its broad, hemispherical bowl is designed for the symposium, the Greek ritual of wine-drinking and conversation. The cup stands on a tall, trumpet-shaped foot, with strap handles set low beneath the lip. The decoration is confined to a reserved band just below the rim: a frieze of herons and rams, rendered in the black-figure technique against the warm terracotta of the clay. Details are incised with a sharp tool, and touches of added purple and white enliven the scene. Inside, at the centre of the bowl, a small reserved circle with a central dot and ring provides a quiet focal point. This is a functional object made elegant by its precise potting and its lively, disciplined animal frieze, a small, everyday masterpiece of Greek ceramic art.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.