Unknown Maker, Etruscan

During the 7th century BCE, the Etruscans developed new ceramics technology, allowing them to produce finer vessels and more elegant shapes. The technique used to produce this cup, known as bucchero, required dark-gray purified clay to be shaped and burnished before firing. A low-oxygen environment was maintained in the kiln, creating the distinctive lustrous black of bucchero. This drinking cup and its stem were created separately and then joined; the seam is emphasized by a notched molding. The frieze around the cup’s body depicts a chorus of ten men and women, holding hands and processing to the left. The decorative pattern around the foot, known as a guilloche, was created by rolling an engraved cylinder across the wet clay.