Terracotta and black cup with a wide mouth, short black neck, and orange base. One side features a bearded man flanked by two circular motifs rendered in black and white.

Partial top-view of a cup with a wide mouth showing two handles peeking out from the edges. Its interior is glossy black with a terracotta illustration of an animal face.

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Group of Walters 48.42

Drinking Cup (Kylix)

Maker

Attributed to Group of Walters 48.42 (Greek, 520-500 BC)

Culture

Greek

Title

Drinking Cup (Kylix)

Period

Classical

Year

ca. 530-520 BCE

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

clay

Geography

Place Made: Attica

Dimensions

Height: 11.9 cm (4 11/16 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Museum Works of Art Fund

Object Number

63.048

Type

Ceramics

Exhibition History

Being and Believing in the Natural World

Perspectives from the Ancient Mediterranean, Asia, and Indigenous North America

Oct 22, 2022 – Jun 04, 2023

Label copy

The large central vessel, used for mixing water with wine, is decorated with companions of the wine god, Dionysus. Maenads were women who roamed the forests, singing and dancing in a happy frenzy. Fertility spirits of the countryside, satyrs were depicted as men with donkey ears and horse tails.

Dionysus was worshipped as a bull in the Greek colonies of southern Italy, where the cup at right was made. The larger cup refers to Dionysus as god of wine and theater. In use, it becomes a mask: Dionysus’s large eyes become the drinker’s, the handles morph into ears, and the base turns into an open mouth. Inside is Medusa, a monster capable of turning people to stone, perhaps warning against overindulgence.

Image use

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This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Attributed to Group of Walters 48.42 (Greek, 520-500 BC)

Drinking Cup (Kylix), ca. 530-520 BCE

Terracotta; black-figure

Height: 11.9 cm (4 11/16 inches)

Museum Works of Art Fund 63.048

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