Kylix (drinking cup) depicting eyes and Dionysian scenes,

late 6th century BCE

These two vessels, which are almost contemporary, feature large, striking eyes. The drinking cup also includes Dionysian scenes, suggesting that it is associated with drinking wine in the symposium. However, eye cups were created specifically for export to the Etruscans, the people living in what is now central Italy, and cannot be easily associated with a solely Athenian sympotic context. The amphora speaks to this particular commodity moving between Greece and Italy: made in Italy by an Etruscan workshop, it too features prominent eyes, whose presence has been augmented here by the addition of eyebrows and a nose, making it seem as if the face belongs to the storage vessel. These two vessels are the product of the movement of objects, visual forms, and people made possible by trade between Athens and Etruria.