Terracotta kylix: lip-cup (drinking cup)

Signed by Epitimos
Related to the style of Lydos
ca. 550–540 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 155
Interior, archer on horseback and warrior dismounting
Exterior, obverse and reverse, profile heads above, inscription between animals below

During the third quarter of the sixth century B.C., the lip-cup and the band-cup were the two preferred types of drinking cup. The lip-cup's exterior is clay-colored, and the usual decoration consists of a figural motif at the top and an inscription and palmettes below. Many variations occur, however. The profile head is a favorite motif, particularly associated with a painter called Sakonides but popular also with his contemporaries.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Terracotta kylix: lip-cup (drinking cup)
  • Artist: Signed by Epitimos as potter
  • Artist: Related to the style of Lydos
  • Period: Archaic
  • Date: ca. 550–540 BCE
  • Culture: Greek, Attic
  • Medium: Terracotta; black-figure
  • Dimensions: H. 7 7/8 in. (20 cm)
    diameter 12 1/16 in. (30.6 cm)
  • Classification: Vases
  • Credit Line: Fletcher Fund, 1925
  • Object Number: 25.78.4
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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