Detail of a Little Master Cup with a Sphinx and Nude Man in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 2018

Terracotta Little Master cup


Period: Archaic

Date: ca. 565–550 B.C.

Culture: Greek, Attic, black-figure,

Medium: Terracotta; black-figure

Dimensions: H. 6 5/8 in. (16.8 cm) diameter 9 7/8 in. (25.1 cm)

Classification: Vases

Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1903

Accession Number: 03.24.31


03.24.31: exterior, obverse and reverse, sphinx standing over a nude man

The larger cup demonstrates the basic decorative format of this popular shape. Here, the inscriptions are meaningless strings of letters framing the figural composition, but on other examples, they accurately record the artist's name, label characters depicted, or offer greetings. Little Master cups can be dated more precisely than most Etruscan vases and so are important indicators of the date of this tomb.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/247100