Attributed to
Epeleios Painter
Ancient Greek (active ca. 530 BCE - 500 BCE) Primary

Attic Red-Figure Kylix (Drinking Cup) with Inscriptions and Youths

Late Archaic
ca. 510 BCE

4 7/8 x 12 13/16 x 15 3/4 in. (12.4 x 32.5 x 40 cm)

This object has the following keywords:

• Archaic - Refers to the pottery style found in Persia around 6000 BCE. The style is characterized by fine, plain buff pottery tempered with straw that is sometimes decorated with simple red or orange painted designs.
• Attic - Style and culture of the region of Attica. For culture particular to the capital of Attica, Athens, use "Athenian."
• 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)."
• kalos inscriptions - Ancient Greek vase inscriptions that take the form of "so-and-so [is] kalos," kalos meaning handsome or beautiful, with an erotic connotation. Some such inscriptions are found on walls as well. The inscriptions are thought to indicate male homosexual love or a cult of celebrity, associated with pederastic courtships that were customary in ancient Greece; they probably reflect the emotions of the patron of the vessel rather than those of the vase painter. The names are usually those of teenage artistocratic Athenians. Those that can be associated with known historical figures have played a significant role in establishing the chronology of Attic vase painting, for they were presumably written when the named person was young. Kale inscriptions for women also exist but they are outnumbered by kalos inscriptions more than twenty to one; the women who are praised in these inscriptions were probably courtesans. The majority of kalos inscriptions are on vases produced between 550 and 450 BCE.
• kylikes - Ancient Greek drinking vessels in the form of a broad, shallow bowl set on a high foot or pedestal with two upcurving handles.
• kylikes type B - A type of kylix characterized by one continuous curve from lip to foot and a broad and relatively shallow bowl. It was the most common red-figured cup, supplanting eye cups by about 500 BCE.
• Red-figure - Refers to a style of Greek vase painting that developed from the Black-figure style. It appeared in Athens around 530 BCE and spread to other areas of Greece, southern Italy, Etruria, and elsewhere in the Mediterranean area, until it disappeared in the third century BCE. The style is characterized by a particular technique, which involves the use of refined slip and a two-phase firing process to create a black ground through sintering, with figures reserved in red. The details of the figures are more fluid than in the Black-figure style, and are typically drawn with a brush, using both a defined, black relief line and a more dilute line that varies in color from dark gold to black.
• tondi - Circular paintings. For circular two-dimensional motifs, use "medallions (ornament areas)"; use "roundels" for circular panels in architectural contexts.
• 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: