Kylix (Eye Cup) with a Crouching Satyr in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, January 2018

Drinking cup (kylix)

Greek

Archaic Period

about 525–500 B.C.

Place of Manufacture: Greece, Attica, Athens

Medium/Technique Ceramic, Black Figure

Dimensions Height: 12.3 cm (4 13/16 in.)

Credit Line Bartlett Collection—Museum purchase with funds from the Francis Bartlett Donation of 1900

Accession Number: 03.784

Collections: Ancient Greece and Rome

Classifications: Vessels

Catalogue Raisonné CVA Boston 2, pl. 100, 1-4.
DescriptionBetween the large eyes, a satyr, stooping, lays hold of vine that fills the field.
Beneath each handle is a siren, and around the base of the bowl is a frieze of lions pursuing winged horses and a deer.

This "eye-cup" has the paired exterior eyes that give this type of kylix its name. The purpose of the eyes is not certain, but when the owner turned up the cup to drink, they would appear as substitutes for his own eyes, alert to any danger. Satyrs, the part-man, part-horse companions of Dionysos, are often shown cavorting among the grapes of their master's vineyard.

Provenance: By 1903: with Edward Perry Warren (according to Warren's records: Bought in London: from an old collection.); purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren, March 24, 1903

Text from: collections.mfa.org/objects/153473/drinking-cup-kylix