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Terracotta stemmed cup with murex decoration

ca. 1400–1300 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 151
By the Late Helladic III period, methods of firing improved on the Greek mainland, making possible this type of long-stemmed cup known as a kylix. The shape becomes the standard form of drinking cup throughout most of the Mycenaean world from the fourteenth century BCE onward. On this particular kylix, the high, striped stem supports a flaring body decorated with marine life, sea anemones and murex shells that attest to the sea as an important source of food and wealth for Mycenaean civilization. The murex, a type of mollusk, was prized throughout antiquity as a source of purple dye.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Terracotta stemmed cup with murex decoration
  • Period: Late Helladic IIIA
  • Date: ca. 1400–1300 BCE
  • Culture: Helladic, Mycenaean
  • Medium: Terracotta
  • Dimensions: H. 8 3/8 in. (21.2 cm)
  • Classification: Vases
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Walter C. Baker, 1971
  • Object Number: 1972.118.137
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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