Terracotta stemmed cup with murex decoration

Unknown

ca. 1400–1300 BCE · Terracotta · Greek and Roman Art

By the Late Helladic III period, methods of firing improved on the Greek mainland, making possible this type of long-stemmed cup known as a kylix. The shape becomes the standard form of drinking cup throughout most of the Mycenaean world from the fourteenth century BCE onward. On this particular kylix, the high, striped stem supports a flaring body decorated with marine life, sea anemones and murex shells that attest to the sea as an important source of food and wealth for Mycenaean civilization. The murex, a type of mollusk, was prized throughout antiquity as a source of purple dye.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1400–1300 BCE

Medium

Terracotta

Culture

Helladic, Mycenaean

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Bequest of Walter C. Baker, 1971