Drinking Cup (Skyphos) with Female Head in Profile

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Drinking Cup (Skyphos) with Female Head in Profile

Artist Unidentified

Place of OriginItaly, likely Campania (Cumae) or Apulia

Date325-300 BCE

Dimensions4 1/2 × 2 1/4 × 2 7/8 in. (11.4 × 5.6 × 7.3 cm)
with handles: 7 1/2 in. (19.1 cm)

MediumWheel-thrown, slip-decorated earthenware

ClassificationCeramics

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1912.1253

Not on View

DescriptionA small, deep earthenware cup with two horizontal loop handles positioned just below the rim. The vessel rests on a ring foot. The exterior is coated in black slip, reserved in red to depict a female head in profile on each side. The female figures face left, wearing a sakkos (patterned head-covering) that holds the hair, with visible details of the ear and eye. Large, stylized palmette motifs with scrolling tendrils flank the heads on either side, filling the space under the handles. A band of wave patterns runs along the upper rim above the figures.

Label TextThis drinking cup, or skyphos, was created in the Greek colonies of Southern Italy during the 4th century B.C. It features a motif known as the "Lady of Fashion"—a female head in profile wearing a patterned head-covering called a sakkos. These heads are among the most common decorations on South Italian pottery from this period. While such cups were designed for drinking wine at social gatherings (symposia), their abundance in tombs suggests they were also frequently purchased as affordable offerings for the deceased. This piece was acquired from the estate of George N. Olcott, a Columbia University professor who collected antiquities to teach his students about daily life in the ancient world.