Detail of a Terracotta Kylix, Eye Cup, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2011

Terracotta kylix: eye-cup (drinking cup)

Period: Archaic

Date: ca. 530 B.C.

Culture: Greek, Attic

Medium: Terracotta; black-figure

Dimensions: H. 4 7/8 in. (12.4 cm) diameter 11 1/4 in. (28.6 cm)

Classification: Vases

Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1912

Accession Number: 12.198.2

Description:

Obverse and reverse, between the eyes, dancing women

The Dionysiac iconography of drinking cups at the end of the sixth century B.C. includes the ornamental motifs as well as the figures. Here the irregular space around the handle is filled with a vine. On the large Nicosthenic cup nearby, the plant is ivy. The women most likely have some connection with the symposium (drinking party).

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/248660