Kylix
Dublin Core
Title
Kylix
Subject
Terracotta
Description
Description:
This unusual cup from Sparta has an offset rim and a slightly rounded body that slopes smoothly to a small, conical foot. The small, horizontal handles are set symmetrically at the top of the body. They are round in cross-section. The vase is made from light brown clay; it is painted with white slip and decorated with black geometric patterns which have fired brown where dilute slip has been applied. The main frieze consists of three black-figure water birds (no incision) on both sides of the body of the vase, between the handles. There is some added red. There is a crack on the rim and some wear on the painted surface.
Function:
Cups were used for drinking.
Decoration:
A) The outside of the rim is decorated with a pattern of widely spaced squares between dark lines with a dark, wavy dotted line above and below.
B) The handles are painted black.
C) The main frieze of water birds is placed between dark lines, one above where the rim joins the body, and five below. On one side, the three silhouetted birds have elongated necks which curve back and face forward, to the right. The middle bird has a red eye; it is reserved on the other two. Tails are outlined in red. On the other side, the bodies of the birds face right, but their necks are shorter and their heads face backwards, to the left. The eyes and tails are painted red.
D) The lower part of the body, where it curves down to the foot, has double outline rays. There are three dark lines (which join to become two on one side) where the body joins the foot.
E) The foot is white with a dark line around its edge.
F) The interior is painted with a black/brown slip. There are three pairs of white rings on the inside of the rim, the middle of the interior of the bowl and around its centre. A pair of red rings is found between the white rings in the interior of the bowl.
This unusual cup from Sparta has an offset rim and a slightly rounded body that slopes smoothly to a small, conical foot. The small, horizontal handles are set symmetrically at the top of the body. They are round in cross-section. The vase is made from light brown clay; it is painted with white slip and decorated with black geometric patterns which have fired brown where dilute slip has been applied. The main frieze consists of three black-figure water birds (no incision) on both sides of the body of the vase, between the handles. There is some added red. There is a crack on the rim and some wear on the painted surface.
Function:
Cups were used for drinking.
Decoration:
A) The outside of the rim is decorated with a pattern of widely spaced squares between dark lines with a dark, wavy dotted line above and below.
B) The handles are painted black.
C) The main frieze of water birds is placed between dark lines, one above where the rim joins the body, and five below. On one side, the three silhouetted birds have elongated necks which curve back and face forward, to the right. The middle bird has a red eye; it is reserved on the other two. Tails are outlined in red. On the other side, the bodies of the birds face right, but their necks are shorter and their heads face backwards, to the left. The eyes and tails are painted red.
D) The lower part of the body, where it curves down to the foot, has double outline rays. There are three dark lines (which join to become two on one side) where the body joins the foot.
E) The foot is white with a dark line around its edge.
F) The interior is painted with a black/brown slip. There are three pairs of white rings on the inside of the rim, the middle of the interior of the bowl and around its centre. A pair of red rings is found between the white rings in the interior of the bowl.
Source
Purchased from Charles Ede Ltd, London, with funds from the Alumni Association, 1979.
Date
625 - 575 BC
Identifier
79.001
Files
Citation
“Kylix,” RD Milns Antiquities Museum Online Exhibitions, accessed May 2, 2024, https://uqantiquitiesonlineexhibitions.omeka.net/items/show/54.