Terracotta fragments of skyphoi (deep drinking cups)

Art Historical Context

These terracotta fragments from skyphoi—deep, two-handled drinking cupsoffer a glimpse into everyday life in Classical Athens during the second half of the5th century BCE.ed in Attic Greece, the heart of ancient Greek pottery production, these pieces hail from a golden age of democracy, philosophy, and monumental art like the Parthenon Skyphoi were popular at symposia, intimate male drinking parties where guests reclined, debated ideas, and enjoyed wine mixed with water, embodying the social rituals of the time. Though incomplete, the fragments highlight the technical mastery of Attic vase-makers, who fired terracotta clay to create durable, wheel-thrown vessels often adorned with red-figure painting—a revolutionary technique where figures appeared in the natural red clay against a black-gloss background. This period marked the peak of such craftsmanship, with Athens exporting pottery across the Mediterranean, spreading Greek culture far and wide. A generous gift to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2011 from Dietrich von Bothmer, a leading scholar of Greek and Roman art, these shards preserve the vibrancy of ancient traditions. They remind us how humble cups connected mortals to the divine through shared stories and libations.