Coral Red Kylix with a Reveler in the Getty Villa, June 2016

Title: Attic Red-Figure Cup

Artist/Maker: Ambrosios Painter (Greek (Attic), active 510 - 500 B.C.)

Culture: Greek (Attic)

Place: Athens, Greece (Place created)

Date: 510–500 B.C.

Medium: Terracotta

Object Number: 86.AE.280

Dimensions: 11.2 × 35.5 × 27.5 cm (4 7/16 × 14 × 10 13/16 in.)

Inscription: Inscription: Tondo: KA[?]ΛIΣNΔ[.]XI A: In the field, between the first three figures: N[.]IXIΣOI (I) K. Between the last two: ΛΛ K B: In the field, between the first two figures: NA[?]IX; between third and fourth KAΛI. Below handle B/A: A[?]IXI

Alternate Titles: Wine Cup with a Reveler (Display Title)
Wine Cup with a Reveler (Published Title)

Previous Attribution: Unknown

Object Type: Cup

Dancing revelers decorate this Athenian red-figure cup. On the interior, a youth, naked except for a wreath in his hair and a short cloak over one arm, dances and flourishes his staff, a marker of the Athenian leisured class. This lone figure finds his companions in the ten other youths encircling the exterior of the cup. These similarly outfitted youths stride and step in an energetic dance, or perhaps emulate fighting postures.

This cup is unusual in that the interior is covered in “coral-red” This intentional red color, much brighter than the normal reddish color of Athenian clay, was achieved either by using a subtly different clay or firing the vase more than once. The red is prone to flaking, and the technique proved to be short-lived, limited to a few workshops with the technical know-how.


Text from: www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/12072/ambrosios-painter-attic-red-figure-cup-greek-attic-510-500-bc