Attic Black-Figure Skyphos (Cup) Fragment

Late Archaic
About 500 BCE - 490 BCE

4 x 2 11/16 x 1/8 in. (10.1 x 6.8 x 0.3 cm)

This object has the following keywords:

• Attic - Style and culture of the region of Attica. For culture particular to the capital of Attica, Athens, use "Athenian."
• Black-figure - Refers to a style of Greek vase painting that developed from the Geometric and Orientalizing styles. It appeared in Corinth around 720 BCE, flourished in Attica by 600 BCE, and was found in Sparta, eastern Greece, and elsewhere, until the Red-figure style gradually replaced it in the late sixth century BCE. The style is characterized by a particular technique, which is characterized by the use of a refined slip, a two-stage firing process, and sintering to create black figures in silhouette on a red ground. Details were incised into the black figures or applied in purple or white pigment.
• cups - Open bowl-shaped vessels, used chiefly for drinking, often having one handle, but sometimes two handles or none, generally on a low foot-ring; also includes similar bowl-shaped vessels, generally without handles, resting on a stem and supported by a spreading foot. Occasionally made with a lid.
• inscriptions - Words, texts, lettering, or symbols marked on a work, including texts, legends, documentation notes, or commemoration. For standardized symbols or notations on objects that convey official information, use "marks (symbols)."
• sherds - Limited to fragments of pottery or glass.
• skyphoi - A type of drinking vessel in the shape of a deep cup, usually with two horizontal handles attached to the lip and a small integral foot. In all-black or unglossed plain wares the skyphos was the most common type of cup.
• vase paintings - Refers to two-dimensional decoration applied to pottery by using paint made of metallic oxides or other pigments held in suspension in slip or another medium. The term is particularly used to refer to Ancient Greek red- and black-figure works. See also "porcelain paintings (visual works)."

This object is a member of the following portfolios: