Red-figure kylix — Terracotta kylix (drinking cup) — Greek, Attic, ca. 490 BCE
Terracotta kylix (drinking cup) — Greek, Attic, ca. 490 BCE The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1912 (12.231.2) Anonymous Gift, 1971 (1971.54) Gift of E.D. Blake Vermeule, 1972 (1972.39.1, .2), The Metropolitan Museum of Art Open Access, CC0

Vessel · Classical Greek

Red-figure kylix

530–320 BCE, Ancient Greece

The red-figure kylix is the shallow stemmed drinking cup of Athens and later South Italy, about 530 to 320 BCE, with figures reserved against a black ground and a tondo scene inside. It was used at the symposium and exported widely, especially to Etruria. Painters such as Douris and the Brygos Painter are identified.

ObjectVessel
Dates530–320 BCE
PeriodClassical Greek
CulturesAncient Greece
RegionsEurope — Mediterranean

Diagnostic traits

Shallow two-handled stemmed drinking cup with figures left in the clay colour against a black ground; tondo scene inside.

Identification

Reserved figures with painted relief lines distinguish it from black-figure; the kylix has a broad shallow bowl, two horizontal handles and a stem. Type A, B and C cups differ in foot and bowl profile. South Italian red-figure has a browner fabric and added colours.

Reproductions and fakes

Restored and repainted; fragmentary cups are completed with modern fill and repainting. Fakes exist and thermoluminescence can help.

Elsewhere

  • met: 248698
Cite this article

Stratum Strata. "Red-figure kylix" (Artifact type). Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/strata/types/red-figure-kylix. Accessed 2026-09-21.

@misc{stratum-red-figure-kylix,
  title        = {Red-figure kylix},
  author       = {{Stratum Strata}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/strata/types/red-figure-kylix}},
  year         = {2026},
  note         = {Artifact type article, Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum, met. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
}

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