Geometric Skyphos

Culture: Greek

Period: Late 8th century B.C.

Material: Terracotta

Dimensions: 6.4 cm high; 9,5 cm in diameter

Price: Sold

Ref: 2542

Provenance: Private collection Michael Ratzenböck, Upper Austria. For at least 30 years in a family estate.

Condition: A handle professionally reattached. In some places encrustation, otherwise intact.

Description: An early form of a skyphos as a high-walled drinking cup with red geometric decoration on a white background. The vessel stands on a flat foot rim, where just above the slightly upwards pointing handles start. The cylindrical corpus is decorated with wavy bands, lines and lozenges. On the inside also encircling band decoration. The skyphos is similar in shape and painting to the vessels found in the first half of the 20th century on the Attic mountain ridge Hymettos. The majority can be found in numerous museums and private collections. See for example the collection of Hymettus ceramic in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was gifted by the Greek government.