On view
Ancient Mediterranean Art
Skyphos (drinking cup),
ca. mid–6th century BCE
Signed by the Potter Klitomenes, mid-6th century BCE
Greek, Attic
Archaic Period, ca. 600–480 BCE
y1929-180
This small drinking cup is decorated with horizontal bands of slip, patterns of ornament, palmettes at the handles, and, in the interior, a goose, with added red slip contributing additional details. What is most striking about this vessel is the inscription KLITOMESEN EPOIESEN S, which translates roughly to, “Klitomenes made it.” The isolation of the artist’s name (KLITOMESEN) on one side of the cup emphasizes the identity of the potter responsible for its creation.
Information
Title
Skyphos (drinking cup)
Dates
ca. mid–6th century BCE
Maker
Signed by the Potter Klitomenes
Medium
Black-figure ceramic
Dimensions
10.7 x 25.5 cm, diam. 17.8 cm (4 3/16 x 10 1/16 x 7 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Howard Crosby Butler
Object Number
y1929-180
Place Made
Europe, Greece, Athens
Inscription
Reserved band at level of handles had palmette at side of each handle attachment and inscription:
A) 'KLITOMESEN';
B) 'EPOIESEN S';
Culture
Period
Said to be from Sardis; bequest to the Museum from Howard Crosby Butler in 1929
- J. D. Beazley, Attic Black-figure Vase-painters, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1956)., no. 1
- J.D. Beazley, Paralipomena: Additions to Attic Black-figure Vase-painters and Attic Red-figure Vase-painters (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971)., p. 117
- John Boardman, Athenian black figure vases, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1974). , p. 17, fig. 16
