Attic(?) Black-Gloss Stemless Kylix (Drinking Cup) with Impressed Palmettes

Classical
425 BCE - 375 BCE

1 11/16 in. x 9 7/16 in. x 7 3/16 in. (4.3 cm x 24 cm x 18.2 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 - UCL (Universal Color Language) standard color name identifying a range of blackish colors. More specifically, black is an achromatic color of maximum darkness, referring to objects having little or no hue owing to the absorption of almost all light in the visible spectrum. In the context of pigments, black is theoretically the mixture of all colors. In the context of colors of light, black is the absence of light.
• ceramic glaze - Thin, opaque, vitreous coating that is applied to the surface of a ceramic body by painting, spraying, or dipping, in order to add color, texture, or water resistance to the object. The glaze is applied to the surface of a fired ceramic piece, and then the piece is refired at a temperature that vitrifies the glaze, but is lower than the original firing temperature. Ceramic glazes are usually mixtures of silicates, colorants, and flux.
• 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.
• engobe - Slip glaze applied over a clay body to provide a smooth surface for further glazing or decoration, usually by dipping or brushing; contains color oxides as well as clay, feldspar, and silica.
• kylikes - Ancient Greek drinking vessels in the form of a broad, shallow bowl set on a high foot or pedestal with two upcurving handles.
• palmette - Motif resembling a stylized erect leaf divided into lobes, in the form of a fan or palm leaf, often supported by spirals. Its origins are obscure, but similar motifs are first recorded in Syria and Mesopotamia and in the islands of the eastern Mediterranean by the 2nd millennium BCE. As the name suggests, it may have been derived from representations of palm-trees, especially in view of the belief that a tree cult may have existed in western Asia in association with the introduction of the cultivated date-palm; however, it has much in common with other early floral and spiral motifs. The motif is common in classical and classicizing styles, used either individually or along with other conventionalized flower or foliage forms, for example, in an anthemion.
• slip - Fine clay which, when mixed with water, results in a fluid with a creamlike consistency, used in casting, glazing, decorating, and repairing ceramic wares; in its natural state, it contains sufficient flux to be used for glazing and decorating without the need of additives. For ceramic glaze with a high content of slip, use "slip glaze."
• stemless kylikes - A type of kylix that, unlike other kylikes, was thrown in one piece, the bowl joined directly to the foot.

This object is a member of the following portfolios: